ARTIST STATEMENT
My intention with my work is to create a space where the viewer is encouraged to pause so they can tune into the spirit that dwells inside. I use nature as a catalyst to spur deep self-listening so that viewers can connect with a force larger than themselves to discover their purpose.
My process takes the viewer through a series of steps that, I hope, result in a desire to share themselves spiritually as individuals and engage with others in dialog socially. It starts with the cultivation of the awareness of our natural surroundings, and a curiosity of who we are within them.
I want to encourage an awareness that goes beyond labeling, and moves from seeing a mountain, a sunset, or a creek to feeling them. Feeling nature means knowing our spiritual self—knowing Truth. When we feel spiritually connected, our creative response is enhanced and we begin to engage in our purpose. We start to ask what it means to live an inspired and meaningful life.
I have always been compelled to learn from nature. Nature leaves trails that you can follow if you pay attention. Layers of sediment, dry riverbeds, eroded mountains, stains of waterflows and plant life preserve secrets of nature’s past. Nature provides a common experience of textures, colors and material that we can share in an instant without words through art. Ancient cave drawings depicted images of flora, fauna, and constellations, as well as spiritual icons, that record the mysteries of our human connection with nature.
I am part Cherokee, so told to me by my grandmother and father. Both are gone now and their stories were full of gaps, lack of information and living relatives. With very little information I started on a quest to learn more about my heritage. I came across the stories of Red Bird and Sequoia who developed the Cherokee syllabary in the mid 1800’s. I also studied calligraphy in China during an East /West exchange during my MFA program at JFK. I thought about how Red Bird and Sequoia travelled through many tribes to get the sound of the Cherokee language down into symbols and how the movement of the brush strokes in Chinese calligraphy recorded the flow of Chi and sound into a different kind of alphabet.
My process takes the viewer through a series of steps that, I hope, result in a desire to share themselves spiritually as individuals and engage with others in dialog socially. It starts with the cultivation of the awareness of our natural surroundings, and a curiosity of who we are within them.
I want to encourage an awareness that goes beyond labeling, and moves from seeing a mountain, a sunset, or a creek to feeling them. Feeling nature means knowing our spiritual self—knowing Truth. When we feel spiritually connected, our creative response is enhanced and we begin to engage in our purpose. We start to ask what it means to live an inspired and meaningful life.
I have always been compelled to learn from nature. Nature leaves trails that you can follow if you pay attention. Layers of sediment, dry riverbeds, eroded mountains, stains of waterflows and plant life preserve secrets of nature’s past. Nature provides a common experience of textures, colors and material that we can share in an instant without words through art. Ancient cave drawings depicted images of flora, fauna, and constellations, as well as spiritual icons, that record the mysteries of our human connection with nature.
I am part Cherokee, so told to me by my grandmother and father. Both are gone now and their stories were full of gaps, lack of information and living relatives. With very little information I started on a quest to learn more about my heritage. I came across the stories of Red Bird and Sequoia who developed the Cherokee syllabary in the mid 1800’s. I also studied calligraphy in China during an East /West exchange during my MFA program at JFK. I thought about how Red Bird and Sequoia travelled through many tribes to get the sound of the Cherokee language down into symbols and how the movement of the brush strokes in Chinese calligraphy recorded the flow of Chi and sound into a different kind of alphabet.
PROCESS |
So, how do I record my experience?
In the past I did mostly large-scale paintings with oil paint, tar, tea bags, acrylic paints, rust solutions, sumi ink, and patterns on canvas. Setting up the surface with gesso layers were intrinsic to that work. I added plaster to my selection of media because I liked the way it stained, imprinted, veiled and reflected light like the gemstones I hunt for occasionally. Plaster has this profound connection to nature in the way it can record the art experience like the lichen patinas on a rock wall. I realized that kind of contrast often caught my eye and lead me to investigate the cause further. Working with these patinas requires some planning in setting up the substrate of plaster to accept added layers of processes to develop more naturally and physically.
In the past I did mostly large-scale paintings with oil paint, tar, tea bags, acrylic paints, rust solutions, sumi ink, and patterns on canvas. Setting up the surface with gesso layers were intrinsic to that work. I added plaster to my selection of media because I liked the way it stained, imprinted, veiled and reflected light like the gemstones I hunt for occasionally. Plaster has this profound connection to nature in the way it can record the art experience like the lichen patinas on a rock wall. I realized that kind of contrast often caught my eye and lead me to investigate the cause further. Working with these patinas requires some planning in setting up the substrate of plaster to accept added layers of processes to develop more naturally and physically.
- I use plaster to set up a base that can accept imprints or stains when wet. I can also add pigments and other items like wood pulp and sand to adjust the surface texture from rough to suede smooth
- I steep feathers, shop rags, and other items with a rust solution and sumi ink to pick up the stain of these objects-a recording of their presence.
- I add layers of colored venetian plaster that has more marble in the mixture and can be burnished and polished evoking an internal luminescence.
- I find objects in nature that catch my eye and make Gelli prints of them, transfer them to Lino blocks and carve the image adding some additional line work
- I transfer Lino block prints of patterns on to the plaster surface in a way that resembles language or script, but also adds abstract form and movement to capture a story experience. This may appear as bands of sediment like lines on paper or grid-like blocks that resemble building blocks of architecture.
- I drizzle liquid stains along the multiple textured surfaces to immolate a trace of natural water movement, erosion, or transformation over time.
- I can carve lines, shapes, and patterns back into the underlying layers revealing different colored layers and /or grout the lines back in with different colored plasters or paint tracing out repetitive patterns that resemble iconic text like language.
- I can veil plaster over other raised Lino block prints, leaving only the higher layers of the print poking through like an embossment.