“I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be.” -Joan Didion

 

Everyone has a story to tell and I tell mine with paint. The twists and turns of life fascinate me. I love to flip through old photos of myself - 14 years old at a rock concert in my halter top and bell bottoms; wearing my first long, white coat as an intern - and marvel at all the people I have been, and lost.

 

In the studio I think about life, not art making. Working in a constant state of exploration and discovery allows me to grow my practice quickly. Using oils, acrylics, and mixed media simultaneously, I jump from easel to wall to table, stepping back occasionally. And sometimes it happens. I see a painting right in front of me. A thing that captures what I am feeling, or who I am thinking of, a thing that looks like me.

 

In my Wildflowers series, I explore the tension of being a female surgeon where emotions were forbidden. I love the interplay between the veiled and the opaque, symbolic of what we choose to show others versus what we hide. In these paintings of unconventional flowers, I deconstruct the floral elements, add structure and drama, drip translucent washes, and use lots of powerful pink.

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Lines appear gouged into the cold wax and oils in my Figure series, a mysterious script that stands for a particular time and place. Female figures emerge from the depths. Each one has a story to tell as I recall feelings of vulnerability, joy, accomplishment, disappointment. Every piece enriches me.

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In all my work, I aim to make paintings that grab the viewer and pull them in closer to examine the details and find connection to their own life experiences. I don’t expect the viewer to get my story but to interject their own.