Who I am as an artist
I am a painter and mixed-media artist whose work emerges from a tactile, attentive relationship with the natural world. Living with a disability shapes how I move through and perceive my surroundings, fostering both adaptation and quiet reflection. Making art is my therapy, a space for both emotional processing and playful exploration. Guided by poetry, I translate the insights of haiku into color, form, and texture. At its core, my work explores contrast, including light and shadow, love and self-doubt, and harm and resilience. My pieces create a space where imagination and lived experience meet.
Mediums
I primarily work in acrylic on canvas, using its fast drying nature to build layered, textured surfaces. My practice expands through mixed media and sculpture; both incorporating distressed papers, text elements, molding paste, and found materials like driftwood and lichen, with the haiku often becoming a tactile element within the composition.
Inspiration
My work is rooted in an ongoing relationship with the natural world, shaped by time spent in the mountains, coastal redwoods, and along the ocean. Moving through these spaces as a disabled person invites both adaptation and stillness, deepening my awareness of subtle shifts in texture, sound, and presence. This attentiveness extends to recurring forms and motifs: the number three, circles, and the color blue., which I see as reflections of patterns, cycles, and emotions observed in the landscapes and moments I inhabit.
Technique
Each piece begins with a haiku selected from a daily writing practice, guiding the emotional tone and a palette oriented toward cooler, more contemplative tones. I build the surface through layered, organic stamping using lichen, occasionally interrupted by bold, gestural brushwork, creating a balance between repetition and intuition. The final step returns to the poem, with text embedded or obscured within the composition, reflecting a process that is both meditative and expressive.
