about the artist
i use a pseudonym so I am able to put more of my authentic self into my art. it also helps to provide some anonymity to important people in my life.
i have been using the same alias for more than a decade. it came from a song by lakutis.
i was in a war, and that’s how i prefer to look at my experience. I have never wanted to be called a “veteran artist,” but technically I am. the war was an experience but it is not my identity.
i earned a BA in visual art and cultural studies from Chatham College for Women in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is also where I'm from. i currently live in Puerto Rico.
I completed 2 years of an MFA program and left to work in construction. my art practice has fluctuated over time to accommodate various life changes and disasters.
some details of my life are incorporated into my work, whether directly or indirectly. I would rather share experiences through my work than list them in words.
for a little bit more insight into my personality, my artistic influences, and works in progress, you can follow me on instagram.
about the art
vision
i am driven by the desire to create experiences that are limited by language. i want the viewer to have a deeper connection to something that may be outside of their experience or comfort zone. i also want my work to express a common connection with people’s shared experiences. and i want my work to encourage people to challenge their own beliefs and open up to new perspectives and ways of thinking.
themes
the body
why the body? because, as Sonya Renee Taylor says in The Body is Not and Apology:
‘But bodies—yup, we got those. And given this widely agreed-upon reality, it seems to me if ever there were a place where the practice of radical love could be a transformative force, the body ought to be that location. When we speak of the ills of the world—violence, poverty, injustice—we are not speaking conceptually; we are talking about things that happen to bodies.’
and, as Reginald Ray points out in The Awakening Body, our bodies are made of the same molecules as everything in the known universe. there is no clear line between where our bodies end and our surroundings begin. at a basic level, we are all just universal molecules.
other themes include: mortality and life cycles, memento mori, trauma and healing, somatic experiencing, random outbursts, strange humor, mystery.
materials and process
i am a multimedia artist, but printmaking, drawing, and painting are a central part of my regular practice. i use a lot of found objects and reuse materials like cardboard and paper. discarded possessions have their own life and story and there’s also way too much garbage on earth, in the ocean, and in space.
archiving: not my strength
i have done a pretty terrible job of photographing and documenting work and reviews in the past. i’m working on doing better. and in the meantime, i am tracking things down and will add them as i find them.