acrylic, gesso, flashe on baltic birch panel
60 x 48 x 2 in.
The writing I used to begin this piece was “pulling light back into myself.” It feels like a gathering of multiple inspirations including textiles, dresses, quilts, symbols, gauzy strips, translucent layers, symbols, circles, petals, patterns, pinstripes, faux 3D…The composition is shaped similar to the Egungun costume with wide “shoulders” and many strips of differing texture and color attached to the body of the “dress” and imbued with memories and prayers. It levitates. And if the wearer were to spin, the pieces would lift and make a whirlwind. It’s a celebration.
acrylic on canvas
72 x 48 x 1.5
The narrative that drove this composition is that it is a side view of a woman with a head covering or patchwork shawl, looking to the right. A translucent white orb holds a meditative space in the mind. On the lower left hand side, a set of double arrows provide protection for the figure while suspended in the vulnerable, contemplative state.
In addition, the double arrows remind us to also protect our self from our self--to not engage in destructive inner dialog, negativity and reactivity. It references the Buddhist teaching about the double arrow that says, “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.” If we can eliminate the tendency to send a second arrow into the already aching heart/mind/body, as humans tend to do in reaction to pain, we might reduce our suffering. Maybe, at least, we can forgive ourselves that we have to go through whatever it is we must endure.
On a more scientific note, by becoming an observer of the pain, we might deal with suffering more skillfully and build new neural pathways in the process. The double arrow sits outside the “figure,” establishing a place from which to witness, allow, and perhaps offering nurturing instead of chastisement.
This piece is also about the idea of distilling essences --holding remembrances as an elixir in the mind, contained in a delicate bubble or orb that needs to be tended and fed with such things. Like how we can extract truths and intangible gems from books, poetry, art, moments, nature, memories, and so on, and carry them with us. These soul-substances heal us and inform our lens on the world.
The arrangement is quite buttoned up and somewhat compressed--because that is what I need a lot of the time. I am stormy on the inside, buttoned up on the outside. I can’t seem to break out of the false sense of control that I gain through painting hard edges and definite shapes--and I am ok with that. It helps keep me sane, held, tethered.
acrylic, gesso, flashe on canvas
72 × 48 in.
This painting feels like an intentional reckoning with the past decade and an honest effort at being willing to trust the new paradigm (while it lasts lol). The placement of the shapes hold space like architectural elements and the four light blue icicle-ish shapes in the top center represent the earned realizations and strength, like trophies.
And always, sprinkled in--the deep black--like that found between the translucent green leaf shapes on the right hand side of the painting—representing the void, chaos. The overall composition is like a tall, protective “figure,” a recurring theme in my work.
acrylic on canvas
48 x 36 in.
In this abstract vignette, a woman in a head covering with a child on her back bends in contemplation amidst the surrounding unrest. Although the scene is groundless, it is held together by the bond between mother and child (or self/inner child or self/daimon). The large translucent halo at the top of the picture and the smaller circle at the crown of the veiled “mother” signify the union.
Radiating petal and wing shapes float over background chaos and act as arms of an elaborate and private prayer. The up and down mirrored, green-hued “hearts” in the bottom left corner represent the “as above-so below” of reality, reminding us that our projections onto and manifestations realized in the outer world are also individual and collective reflections of our inner lives.
On the left side, the stacking shapes build a rhythm and a wall of protection. The elongated black pouch with white stripes holds the unknown. Mapping agents such as the syzygy (alignment of circles) that runs up the right side of the picture, many triangles, and the broken chevron pattern make simple geometries that provide steady places from which to witness, meditate and make sense.
A triad of subtle circles rotates in constant motion, embodying the mysterious dynamics between the mother and child (or self/inner child or self/daimon). Non-linear in every sense, the complex teachings between these entities are an intricate weaving of past, present, future, ancestors, DNA, nature, nurture, dreams and the divine. This constant feedback loop informs our lens on the present and the choices we make daily and is thus due a deep immersion and investigation.
acrylic, gesso, flashe on canvas
48 x 36 in.
A meditation on violence and vulnerability. At the top of this piece is a crosshairs/reticle like one would find in a sight on a rifle. The purpose here is to focus, aim, meditate, and mitigate damage to the self and others—to locate the trigger, the original glitch, and bring it to the light—to either heal or dry up and become dust.
There is chaos in the background, while floating, translucent shapes attempt to contain, manage and organize the disorder. On the left side of the canvas the shapes are more opaque, grounded, and heavy—capable of being wielded as weaponry for self-defense, if necessary.
Subtle patterns throughout suggest the power of mantra/repetition and the role of recurring thoughts and actions that are either life-affirming or the opposite. The overall arrangement makes a loose head piece that would help the wearer to focus and channel the mind. The circle centers, when connected make lines, angles and prisms with the purpose to calm, hold, and transform.
acrylic on canvas
48 x 36 in.
Cascading panels compose a sort of ruffled dress or costume, each panel representing an aspect of the self—an emotion, an experience, a love, a cherished moment, a connection—cascading pieces and parts of the conscious and subconscious—some opaque and definite, others translucent, transcendent, fleeting. Inspired by the Egungun masquerade garb of the Yorùbá culture, hand sewn dresses, and quilting circles.
acrylic on canvas
40x30 in.
Vertical strata signifies time stacking, an abstract cradle, the cycles of life: mother-child-mother-child-mother-child, access to ancestors, acts of healing echo beyond time and space, we are threaded, tethered to those who came before. The work we do in the here and now trickles through, penetrates the layers and reaches back back back and lightens. Diamonds loosen from the compressions. Decoding the messages in between lifetimes. Be held. You are carried, cradled, contained, empty.
acrylic on canvas
40x30 in.
A driving force in my work is narrative. It helps move the work forward by getting me out of the way, and gives me permission to make what needs to be made.
In this piece, a striped bowl holds plasters infused with medicines and gauzy translucent strips of different frequencies for realigning and healing.
acyrlic on canvas
24 x 18 x 2 in.
A thin lava line runs through the bottom of the piece, bright hot orange even as it crosses through a cool white and blue. It’s an indication that there is still potential for fire to catch. The shield shape as a foundation is a recurring theme in my work and in this case signifies protection of the vital spark within. The black and white striped section represents life teachings, the inner guru.
Jungian analyst Lisa Marchiano writes, “If we can’t sometimes set aside what others require of us and fervently take hold of our own wants—if we can’t access our vital spark—we won’t be able to nurture the precious thing that wants to come into the world through us.” - From Vital Spark
The lively chaos behind the hard edged bars of color is stabilized by the black rectangle that also references the constant presence of the void, the unknown as a balancer for all equations and assumptions.
acrylic on panel
20 x 16 x 1.5 in.
A patchwork of textured, distressed rectangles and triangles are held together in a shield shape. Rounded corners soften the arrangement. There is a small black moon and an indigo lens for a tinted viewing of the unknown.
acrylic on panel
20 x 16 x 1.5 in.
An altarpiece, a summoning of a song, a view hole to the infinite, a buoyant femininity, sharp patterns, inverse diamonds, veiled storms