I have spent most of my adult life exploring transitions. I am intrigued with the indomitable human spirit as we face hardships, disasters, diseases, and death. My art making process tends to originate with observations of my own transformation. I then expand upon the personal to find the connections that apply to the collective community. The work addresses issues of physical and spiritual healing of both the planet and her inhabitants. I look to the human physical body as a metaphor for the earthly body. I draw the parallels between both when referencing the need for change lest we face our ultimate self destruction. My current work consists mostly of structural installations that I then take into another dimension by translating through the camera lens as either photographs or projected light images.
I have an AAS in Advertising Design and Production, a BA in Psychology and the Arts, and an MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College. Areas of study have included Feminist Art, Earth Art, and Spirituality in Art. I have also studied Traditional Chinese Medicine in both Boston and Beijing and practice various modalities of energy healing and body work. I am a trained Hospice Volunteer and have designed and facilitated expressive arts classes for grieving children and their parents. I have worked with the inmate population at the county jail to address anger issues through the expressive arts as well. I recently took the position of Associate Director for "DREAMS OF WILMINGTON' a non-profit arts program for inner city youth in Wilmington, NC. For the past nine years, I have been teaching Graphic Arts, Photography, and Screen Printing to high school juniors and seniors at the Foster Technology Center in Farmington, Maine. Prior to teaching, I worked in the building trades for 12 years- engaged in all aspects of designing and building new constructions as well as renovations of existing homes. I bring all of these skills and experiences into the art making arena.
Taking a lead from the Five Element Theory of TCM as it relates to transitioning through the seasons of our lives, my work seems to be fluctuating between the great yin of water and the great yang of fire. In June of 2006 lightning hit my studio, burning it to the ground. My earlier art work, library, notes, journals, photographs and personal papers were all destroyed. Over the past two years I have been seemingly cast adrift upon the stormy grey waters of change which have affected my family and homelife. I am beginning to process these event through the art making process. As a result of this experience, I feel somewhat connected to those on the planet who have been uprooted due to the forces of nature and change. I share some of this new work with you in hopes that we all might find something of a phoenix rising from these ashes.
