I’m drawn to the small, intimate moment, and think of myself artistically as an “intimist,” an apt title coined for me by a fellow artist. I think of my art as containers for metaphor, and am most satisfied with poetic vision rather than literal interpretations. My work is concept driven and varied in intent, style, and medium to address questions of uncertainty and transience. All of my work has a strong connection to poetry. I’m fascinated by the way that a poem resists the reader, creating multiple layers of meaning. I like a poem’s economy of language, and the way a poem’s meaning evolves for the reader as the reader evolves. Evoking a strong connection between written and visual language, many of my works are meant to be read like poems, with the viewer bringing his or her own narrative to the piece.
What is important for me about handmade representational art is the layer of human experience and the imprint of the individual that is embedded in the work – the hours of still, patient focus and close observation that are essential to the finished piece. I first experienced this appreciation of the handmade from makers in my family, particularly the women who knitted, tatted, crocheted, embroidered, baked and cooked, taking their time to make fine handmade objects. There was always domestic ritual around the making; table linens, sweaters, blankets, and pastries that all bore the print of the maker and the obvious signs of hours and hours of careful, patient craft. Even the recipes, handed down, were handwritten, with the fingerprints and notations of the baker preserved as a valued part of the inheritance. I grew up on stories of strong ancestors who survived hardships with imagination and persistence, tools that as an artist I count among my most essential.