CREATIVE STATEMENT

I make paintings and objects in order to think about the nature of femininity, beauty and how sub-conscious impulses reinforce or conflict with conscious desires.

Essentially I am fascinated by the retail culture that we inhabit. The society that surrounds us is filled with lures that are meant to drive us to obsession. In my paintings, I work to create visual illusions or abstract layers and materials that are used in a non-conventional way. My art is made through the use of a variety of fabrics-including spandex, mesh, and organza. I then incorporate latex paint, charcoal, glass glitter, sand, Swarovski crystals, and paper to create a hybrid between traditional painting and clothing, accents, which I add as a kind of ornamentation. These forms frequently suggest a woman’s purse. I purposefully foster these connections because I am interested in handbags as something a woman uses to keep her personal belongings in, as well as an item of adornment. In some cases displaying a purse is a symbol of social rank—not unlike the collecting of art.

Fashion was always an irresistible subject for me but it never surfaced through anything that I made until graduate school. The urge to make something that resembled that of the trending world came to the forefront of everything that I create now. Just like the urge to purchase, the urge to make is inevitable in my practice. This attitude extends into making my own fabric by pouring paint onto a texturized surface—simulating and extending the look of actual fabric patterns. Although I make these forms to resemble details from the fashion world by using latex I am constantly searching for the worthiness of my work but also myself In every piece that I make each work generally have their own disposition, each one having a different presence- Confidence, self-doubt, constraint, and attractiveness. These "sculpture paintings" embody the distinct feeling that I have as a female and the ability to acquire relationships, objects, experiences, and a valued life.