Artist Bio
I spent my early childhood running delightedly barefoot, wild and free - practically feral - in rural, southern Kentucky, and this instilled a lifelong love of nature. Nowadays, I am a poet, writer, and visual artist. My visual arts primarily incorporate papermaking, printmaking, mixed media work, and photography. Previously, I attended graduate school for agroecology, and my research focused heavily on plant sciences. Unfortunately, due to my intractable Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I was unable to finish the program, but there is no such thing as a reformed botanist. Consequently, the natural world and its flora heavily influence my artwork as I endeavor to capture a fraction of its beauty, hoping, all the while, that my reverence shines through in my creations. Furthermore, I hope that, when people view my art, they feel more connected to and appreciative of, the fragile but wondrous environment we so often take for granted.
Recently, I started titling pieces with short, formal poems, such as haiku and tanka, and the artwork in the It Shall Come to Pass Series is no exception. Each piece examines the misfortunes humanity has historically inflicted upon and is still causing for nature, and several pieces allude to the damage that prejudice, misogyny, greed, etc. have inflicted upon our own species. In this series, the natural world is represented by the senescent (aging or dying) flora, and the human world is represented by the metal components - bits of rust, costume jewelry, hardware, etc.
Overall, I am a very material- and issues-driven artist who is devoted to nature and justice, both social and ecological. Often utilizing natural objects, unconventional materials, and/or inventive combinations of supplies, I gleefully experiment with the unusual.
Even when there is nothing natural in my work, it still frequently critiques our environmentally catastrophic and discriminatory cis-hetero patriarchal society and/or imagines new, eco-feminist futures of equality, justice, and sustainability. My work goes beyond the big-picture aspects of our fractious relationship with Earth and addresses the unfair and disproportionate burdens dropped cruelly, heavily, and unfairly upon the shoulders of marginalized communities.
The ultimate objective of my art is to compel the viewers to explore within themselves what they might do to create a better, more eco-friendly, and more just world, sparking a conversation that will continue beyond the gallery walls.