Artist Statement
I imagine I paint the way a quilter quilts. My compositions are patchworked together, pairing many bits of color. I want my paintings to feel airy, yet dense. Thinly built up layers become a delicate screen, allowing air to easily pass through. The painting surface is touched many times, constantly being mended, until every mark is held taut in its place. I weave between the foreground and background, suspending both on the surface of the painting.
Shallow tableaus depict women leisurely enjoying nature. Light, joyful narratives allow me to indulge in the pleasure of making. While my mind is occupied, my hand can paint more intuitively. I play with the speed at which my paintings are digested by marrying abstract mark making and figurative painting. At a distance, the scene is clearly visible, but upon closer inspection, the imagery almost dissolves into flat blocks of color and brush strokes. Sometimes paint represents figures in space and other times paint is seen as paint. A painting is complete when it is as much a record of its process as it is a finished object.
