I was born in Wisconsin and attended Drake University, receiving a BFA in Fine Arts. I have worked in NYC as a costume designer, theatrical scenic artist and professional interior/exterior muralist for over 15 years before developing my own body of figurative and personal work.
My artwork is figurative and story-telling, with a aspiring nod to the genius of Edward Hopper, my favorite painter. I focus on a person and their immediate environment. My challenge is to capture small yet significant moments, as I invite the viewer to participate in a private state of contemplation. I have also explored and continue to explore in ever more complex ways the female nude reimagined as an auto-biographical statement.
I want to capture the simple beauty of humans doing human things. A woman is bored at her job, she considers a new life and what that might look like. A young boy practices his piano lessons while day-dreaming of Spiderman and what they would do together if they were friends. A man is crushed by regret but the light flooding over his broken frame is filled with forgiveness and love. Can he forgive himself?
My private painting practice began roughly 10 years ago with the whimsical, - color and light and patterns that celebrated female beauty. My subjects were my friends and lovers and my goal was to show my love for them through inventive and collaged portraiture. I prefer oil paint for portraiture to other mediums for its unrivaled range of color and luminosity. Sometimes I pair this with foil for added dimensions of light.
Over time I have shifted from an overt sexuality to something more nuanced and complex, reflecting my own shifting attitudes toward what is most alluring and compelling. The story is no longer, “Look at me because I am beautiful”. The story is now, “This is who I am and what I choose to reveal (or not reveal).” Expanding on the agency of the subject has led me to including their environment, to better set their story in time and place, to show context. This has brought me to this moment, where I find I bounce between the figurative and the abstract in my journey to express a moment, a feeling of significance, to fix and hold something fleeting and lost.