Artist Statement

Having been widowed at 21, fought ovarian cancer while rebuilding a home from 2015 SMTX floods, and custody battles with an abusive mentally ill man, I cannot deny an overwhelming sense of pain and grief in my work. I strive to express a relatable survival process through trauma, emotional and physical. My art is not directly representative of my life’s struggles, but about the collective experience of what it’s like living through all the mess: isolation, building walls, setting boundaries, and learning the difference between healing one’s heart and guarding it - accepting the scars of my past.

My past work has been about gilding scars (broken butterfly and organ series), imagery with broken pieces filled with gold leaf and thread. Healing. Living with scars but seeing the beauty and strength in overcoming. 

Recently I’m  delving deeper into the experience of that which creates brokenness and scars: the coping, the struggle. I’m exploring the escapist mindset in experiencing trauma. A woman’s disassociation required to handle crises, compartmentalizing. Losing herself as her colors fade and daydreaming of escape or hiding in order to just deal with daily routine in toxic relationships, generational sadness and mental illness. Isolation. Colors dripping onto silhouette figures as if someone else’s emotions are hovering over her. The things she seeks shelter from.