Artist Statement

My artwork is the culmination of the various materials, techniques, ideas and feelings I use to make sense of the dueling responsibilities I have as an artist and a mother. Being a caregiver is all encompassing, and I have yet to find a piece that I have made since my children were born to be untethered from this relationship. Becoming a mother brought me back to painting with a transformed concept of time and an urgency to intentionally create a space for myself outside of my new role as mother. It is meditation. After each opportunity I have to dedicate time to my practice, I feel refreshed and renewed. Some of my work is full of colorful, abstract patterns-circles, dots, and pill-shaped brush marks. I sometimes use mundane objects found around the house like cardboard tubes or jars to create the patterns. When painting I primarily work with watercolor and acrylic both on paper and canvas. I choose these water based paints because my studio is in our home, another example of how my work has evolved around family life. Building layers atop a loose wash that progressively become more tightly patterned, this work represents a desire to maintain agency in the midst of the chaos and contradictions of motherhood. I will often use materials that have passed through my children’s hands as a starting point, process art from when they were little or composition books brought home at the end of the school year. Though these materials are imbued with meaning to me,  their work multiplied quickly. Too precious to throw away but too plentiful to keep, it is also a visual reminder of the waste humans create. In the same vein, my collage series is made of shredded pieces of a photo of my daughter at 18 months. I made multiple copies of the photo eleven years ago with the intention of mailing them as Christmas cards. In reusing these materials, I create the space to reflect on and release the feelings of guilt, regret, fear and nostalgia that often come hand in hand with motherhood. I want to acknowledge these feelings exist in equal measure with the love and joy that abound in motherhood.