Welcome Back

 It has been a very long time since I last wrote or updated my website. As with most people, my last couple of years have been a wild ride: I've had another kid, survived that, survived the pandemic, survived the previous and new government administrations, and I had to euthanize my dearest dogs when they were too old and too sick. I've had to go through some things, and through all of it, I have come back to myself.

Privacy. Oil on panel, 14" x 11". 2020

 

I have been working. There are plenty of new paintings and prints in my studio, and I am steadily working away every day. Surprise, surprise- it turns out that making art is a big coping skill for me, and boy have I needed to cope. I started out making work about the medical experience of my second pregnancy. Then I made work about my postpartum experiences, and my new identities as a person seen without my kids and the very real day to day of #momlife. Currently this is turing into work about significant markers in my life.

 

Baby Bed. Ink on paper, 9" x 12". 2020

 

While the world literally burns and autocracy triumphantly takes the stage and daily fresh horrors unfold, I've felt like I should make work directly speaking to the larger things going on around me and to make political or radical work, to somehow try to take action through my medium. However, that kind of work would not be true to me, and I think because of that it would ultimately fall flat. Other folks might decide that it's wrong of me to not use my platform in a way that directly speaks to these things. At the same time, I think that making work from one's individual experience is important; it speaks to people in nuanced ways that I can never predict, and it will eventually be historical, a sign of the times.

 

Last New Year's Eve. Oil on panel, 30" x 24". 2021

For once I'm not quite sure where my work is going, and I think that's a good thing. I am working towards finding my place in myself, and finding opportunities through shows, exhibits, and residencies. I've been showing my progress on my Instagram. Stick with me, and we'll see where we end up.

 

Bumper sticker for The Crust Bucket Collective's Trunk Show