artist statement
My work is a mix of art and poetry that inform one another. I paint and draw primarily with: gouache on wood slabs; graphite on paper; and watercolor and Japanese brush pen on paper.
I am interested in illustration and all the many ways figures and spaces can be simplified and stylized to highlight different emotions and realities. I use abstract line and form with representational images such as parts of the human face to make sense of feeling split or paused between different dimensions of form. I am fascinated by that which is recognizable in the midst of unrecognition. My work aims to blend form through stylization and ruptured space.
Much of my art and poetry focus on the reclamation of femininity. The female body has been used across cultures as a sex symbol. Almost any display of femininity in America is sexualized, preyed upon or created for the pleasure of the male gaze. These qualities are recognized and carried in the image of the female body. Reclaiming my own female body while unraveling this narrative is a challenge I want to represent in my work. I aim to confront the male gaze and assert femininity as powerful.