Artist Statement

Making art for me is about Wayfinding.

"Wayfinding refers to the ways in which people and animals orient themselves in physical space and navigate from place to place." -Wikipedia

The term can also refer to mapping an identity, which is used in my work with narrative and storytelling. Childhood memories, balancing art with family, my battle with breast cancer, women's work, and coming to terms with the aging process are subjects that have been, and continue to be in my work. My physical body has been shifted and reconstructed. Our bodies house our spirits and carry us along, bearing the markings of experience.

Life is observed, and recorded - pulled apart and put back together again. Who we are and how that is shaped and changed with time and circumstance is explored through the juxtaposition of materials and images. Handmade paper, lines from books, photographs - often digitally altered, and found objects are layered together to navigate new understanding and territory. Often times, the process begins in my sketchbook. A piece will often start with a single image that I may have found in a book, a magazine, or a photograph I have taken myself. These snapshots are scanned into Photoshop where they can be manipulated and printed on various papers. This allows for changes in composition and scale and are translated into various types of prints; relief, digital, intaglio, screen prints, and photo transfers for more complex layering.

My foundation in drawing and printmaking leads me to the expressive line, the tactile surface, and the use of a matrix to create a visual vocabulary that can be repeated and reused. Rubber stamps carved from different materials allow for a directness that move through the page. One step leads to another and that process of navigating through time and space, physical as well as spiritual, is what interests me most.