Artist Bio

Paintings have always been the only worlds I wanted to inhabit. After a childhood of instability where domestic violence, addiction, housing insecurity and mental illness surrounded me, I went in search of a new home. As a teenager, I experienced yet more trauma but soon found the Art Institute of Chicago, where I discovered the worlds of Van Gogh, O'Keefe, Marc Chagall, Leonora Carrington and Magritte. Here were endless worlds that offered me a refuge. Upon entering The Dream by Henri Rousseau, I lay upon the lush couch in that mysterious jungle and knew that one day, I, too, would create fantastical worlds. It is within the four walls of the canvas that I find limitless meaning, power, and rebirth.

ARTIST PHILOSOPHY

Painting is a physical act to make tangible the machinations of the mind and spirit. By applying bold, thick, visible strokes of paint, unusual mark making, and the use of unconventional colors, the passionate search for meaning and the fragile balance of the human condition collide. My cascade of colors, thick layers of paint and elements of ephemera often feature isolated subjects to express the emotion and struggle of existence, especially as it intersects with the feminine. My work is infused with imagination, feminist thought, literature, poetry, music, mythology, and dreams that take the viewer on an emotional journey into the psyche.