If I had not done “Hot Pink Justice” at Blackfish Gallery last July, I would still be looking for a venue to show this work. I’m grateful for Blackfish for giving artists the opportunity to speak their truth. It is because of this freedom, that I can move on to do the work you see in the other sections of my web site.
The base shapes for this piece are two houses, each with a basement. The house on the right represents a version of my past that is so painful, I’ve run from it for most of my life. The house on the left represents how my own childhood informs or, misinforms my parenting today. These two different experiences are connected and infused with a color I chose for the “shadow.” The shadow of the past runs through the present and affects things just by being there. It changes the color of current events in my day to day. The people in the basement were real once, and now their memories are merely an impression of the shadow left behind.
I have seen people hold their kids back because of what happened to themselves as children. “You’ll always struggle with this or that, because that’s ‘just how life is,’” I cannot tell you how many times I heard the phrase, “It’s just your cross to bear,” as a logical explanation for my suffering as a child who was seen as “disabled.” I want to give my children a better chance at life than this. What’s beautiful about it, is that I get to watch them grow, free of hating themselves. I can watch them turn into confident, kind human beings where the only thing in their way, is the limits of their imaginations. Well, and all the stuff society will throw at them, but that’s for later.
acrylic paint, wood panel, cut wood, glasses, found objects, collage, ink
This one is kind of “self explanatory.” Inspired by the Supreme Court.” I’ll just say that much.
Mixed Media, 2022
36” x 16” x 1”
I did this piece while I was looking at my parents’ old “family bible,” it just sort of came to me. :)
2022
floral wire, acrylic paint, ink, ribbon, found objects, beads, paper, silk flowers
12”x58”x1”
In winter, I took an online “journal painting” class with local artist Jennifer Mercede. After the class, I experimented with the idea of writing thoughts into decorative and abstract shapes on non-archival surfaces, because why not? And I was pleasantly surprised. To see Jennifer’s work visit her online at https://www.etsy.com/shop/jennifermercede
2022
acrylic paint, collage, cardboard
33”X10”
These were specifically done in the style of dissociation, a feeling I know all too well.
2022
plywood, acrylic paint, collage
Another good ol’ dissociation painting. I have to go measure it again. :)
2022
plywood, acrylic paint, collage
