Through this experiment I will be exploring the tension between identity and place, emotion and physical body, natural and synthetic, attempting to bring awareness to the collective disconnection that plagues the human species and revive the feeling of connection.
Oil paintings - The main body of work
Pulling inspiration from the transcendentalist movement, surrealism and the desert of the southwest, I create alluring imagery that goes beyond the traditional landscape painting. Weaving together symbols and elements of my internal and external environments into my final studio creations and playing with the theme of merging human form and landscape, my current body of work welcomes the viewer to observe a deeper reality which exists in the emotional body --- one that tells a story of longing to belong to the land.
Materials focus - Earth pigments and natural dyes
As we have become more disconnected from the natural world, we too often do not know the origin of most things we interact with daily: from the food we eat, to the materials in our phone, to the fibers that make up our clothing, and as artists, the mediums we use to create.
In pursuit of another symbolic link between my artwork and subject matter, I began experimenting with making my own paint from earth pigments gathered from the same sites that inspire the paintings. I am further exploring my connection to materials through embroidery and plant based dyes. Incorporating earth pigments in my work not only forms a physical link between my creations and the land, but also provides opportunity to collaborate with artists of various mediums; our common interest in color bringing us together to process pigments. This practice of working with locally sourced pigments reimagines a way to slow down from the mindless consumption of modern life, reviving folk traditions to work together in reciprocity with the land.