Drawing Portfolio
Reflecting on the world around me, I aim to encapsulate the visual power embedded in transforming organic experiences into art. This transformation sparks a dialogue that shifts between reality and fantasy, enabling me to reshape and highlight the interpretations within the visual elements I utilize. My compositions are driven by symbolic narratives that explore the intricacies of connection and communication, creating scenarios that prompt engagement and conversation between the narrative and the viewer. Through my artistic practice, I often delve into the strength of juxtaposition, particularly through the dynamic interplay of shape and form, establishing a rhythm that challenges perceptions and enriches the viewer's emotional journey. My work serves as an invitation for contemplation and dialogue, nurturing a deeper understanding of the subtle yet significant connections that bind us to the world around us.
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In my exploration of fractured narratives, I often utilize the educational tool of “master copies” within the compositions as aid in illuminating the complexities of society and human relationships. This approach allows me to deconstruct familiar imagery, fostering a dialogue that challenges viewers to reconsider their perceptions. By intertwining historical references with contemporary themes, I reflect the disjointed nature of our shared experiences. My work serves not only as an artistic endeavor but also as a medium for social commentary, prompting introspection and connection. Through these fractured pieces, I aspire to create a space where viewers can engage with the nuances of their own narratives within the broader context of our collective existence.
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In my most recent body of work, I delve into the complexities of vulnerability and resilience, drawing from my personal journey with cancer. This experience has profoundly shaped my artistic expression, pushing me to explore themes of fragility, transformation, and the stark realities of life and mortality. Each piece reflects not only my struggles but also my moments of clarity and strength, inviting viewers to connect with their own experiences of hardship and healing. Through this exploration, I aim to foster a sense of empathy and understanding, shedding light on the often-unspoken emotions that accompany such a journey. My art serves as both a cathartic outlet for my own experiences and a means of connecting with others, encouraging dialogue about the challenges we face and the profound beauty that can emerge from them.
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During my time at Athena Standard Residency, I focused on creating a new series of drawings inspired by the Greek sculptures and spiritual relics made available on view in the Greek museums and historical sites. I was most interested in the spiritual story, history and personal power of votives and Ephanany statues. I was struck with the idea of immortality and how humans are the indicators of what remains alive or becomes forgotten.
To prepare for my trip to Delphi, I read The Sibyl Par Lagerkvist. A beautiful parable-like structured story, the book captured the relationship between god and human through the loss of faith and innocence. The driving character intensity of love and ultimately disillusionment shaped the compositions on the pink paper.
Votives and Ephanany Statues were the manifestations of the devotee and the spiritual being. The power held in these spiritual structures during the ancient times and how the presence of the spiritual is still present in the essence of the “shell” we see today. Most of my drawings focus on this concept of the immortal experience in reality and also transforming into a shell through disregard and forgetfulness.
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Fragments: Drawings from Nova Scotia, addresses the harmonious interaction between artist and coastal environments explored three ways: drawings through the traditional format of mark making on paper, compositionally sculptural constructions of found and created objects and through mental visualizations and guided invisible lines through sound and video. In many ways, am interested in how far I can push the concept of what actually constitutes, “a mark.” I often use cyanotypes to create another layer to my compositions and explore the idea of memory. Although my work creates a sense of representation and image making through the traditional media, I am focused on the visual intrigue of shape and the memory of its movements. I spend time observing and sketching a subject matter’s pattern of change throughout many days. I consider my compositions as narratives. Through direct interaction of the landscape around me, I collect debris (organic and manmade). Through this collecting, I create mark-marking dialogues of the found objects interacting within various constructions. I translate my visual experiences as a narrative agents producing a lyrical movement and allowing dialogue between line, shape, and the idea of movement to interact within my various compositions, distorted and highlighted.