My formal artistic influences are drawn from symbols and iconography found mainly in Medieval, Mexican, and Native American cultures and religions. I was greatly influenced by my tenth grade history teacher who introduced me to iconography and Byzantine mosaics. But my earliest and most significant influence was “antiquing” with my mother in rural Pennsylvania. That was when I learned the joy of discovering secret objects and hidden treasures among cast-offs and junk.
I have lived on both coasts. I was introduced to Mexican and Native American objects and traditions when I lived in Los Angeles. It was there that I began creating female dolls, hand-sewn and personal. I embroidered messages of distress, hope, prayer or memories between the folds of their skirts or along the edge of their braids. They wore clothing made from old muslin and found fabrics, decorated with bottle caps, twigs, and charms.
After moving back to the East coast and becoming the mother of three, my dolls became an expression of family – the demands and rewards – and how they affected my daily and artistic life. Soon I was gathering together small objects that I found on the street with symbols from religions and everyday life to create triptychs and paintings on wood. These works contained narratives on parenting, fertility, childhood, growth, and genealogy.
Now I am developing different thematic “series” such as “One Thousand Postcards,” “The Vessels,” and “Shelters and Caves.” I am working with muted, natural color palettes, using ink and watercolor as my main medium and paper as my preferred substrate. I am looking to new inspirations such as the Leather Man but all of my work is embued with the same sense of collecting, discovery, and expression that I learned at my mother’s side as she and I together searched for hidden treasure among the junk shops and antique stores we so often frequented.