Artist Statement
The seascapes I started in December 2009 when my mother was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. Although the theme of seascapes was not unfamiliar to me, it had been several years since I had thought about them. I envisioned myself before a large sea, by myself on the beach. My first paintings were in black and white – no color, just tonal. I was thinking about death. Then I used nonsensical color and eventually realistic.
The sea represents a peaceful, beautiful, comforting place – but also a vastness and a place of wonder. The shore, the sand, where I sat, has a constant interaction with the sea and waves which wash up against it and which never stops; an intimate, constant relationship.
My work has always been “emotional” - about intimacy and relationships. I work with sand that I find or buy and sieve into large and small grains. The work is initially slow and meticulous except when I add sand which is fast. So there are two very different energies working together; focused, methodical and slow, - then quick.
The Bra series I started in reaction to hearing about women being abused and raped in Africa. I thought about the role of women in general and used the bra as a symbol of women and their sexuality; a weapon and a vulnerability. The bras were made of stones or sand or roof nails in three sizes so that the bra was topographical. Some bras had many tiny drill holes that resembled lace. I was interested making something women used daily that was practical, beautiful and sexy using unexpected material which resulted in bras that appeared uncomfortable although that was not my intention. I did not intend to have any aggression or discomfort with my bras for the viewer - it was simply a process in making them. I envisioned the lace bra with little holes to resemble lace and the only way I could make them was with a drill. Bras can be uncomfortable but that was not why I used sand or pebbles.
The dripping sand is my most recent work. I work meticulously with the glue and sand. The work is about intimacy and relationships (each drip to the other) and it reflects the impatience of our society, the speed in which we live.