Wallflowers

Creating art is my medicine, my window into life and its mysteries. I think for most artists, art is a guide in the journey of self-discovery. The process of making art is just as important and intriguing as the final product. My “Wallflower” paintings have many stages and media, which is in part a self-portrait of discovery. I combine airbrushing, costume design, collage, adornment, photography, silk screening and found objects and wallpaper. I begin with an abstract idea and then rely on instinct with my collection of ideas. I use images and silk-screening like fragments of a story, or pieces of an unassembled puzzle. The meaning of the final piece unfolds like a book: the outcome is unknown until the very end. As I work, a story emerges. I have to be meditative and methodical which can be time consuming. Much is trial and error, if I rush this can lead to what can appear non- sencical and without soul. I like to think a successful painting is illustrating a deep narrative or fairy tale, and has revealed something unique to me.

Fables and folklore, sensual tribal art, ritual, pre-Raphaelite painting, the female form, adornment, and the power of costume all inspire me. In my work I use things that have held life at some point such as a feathers, bone or a wing of a moth. I am drawn to objects that have a power of their own and illustrate an ancient magic in everyday life. I love to imagine the objects story as I create: where it has been, who has held it close, what gives it the meaning of “life". I treat the female figure similar to that of the object. What does the female symbolize, in the present and past? Where has she been as a relic throughout time?

The title “Wallflowers” refers to all that we see on a daily basis but doesn’t trigger as significant. Current folklore is in the background of our day-to-day lives, but by taking things for granted, the amazing fades to mundane. A Woman adorns herself and by doing so becomes a powerful figure: beautiful and decorative she also fades into the background and can be regarded as merely decoration. An image of a deer antler combined with other images becomes something more than just a deer’s antler and more of a symbol. A story or ritual emerges from the wallpaper. Drawing from inspiration of the past and combining women I adorn with costume, photograph and include in my work, I create a new myth. One that is powerful in the feminine.