Artist Statement

How do you identify as a visual artist? 

My work is hard to categorize. I identify as a figurative painter, but my paintings are not realistic or representational. I make images that explore emotions, psychic realities, and spirituality. I’m heavily influenced by:

Ancient art—Cyclades, pre-Columbian, Egyptian, Hindu
Indigenous artists such as the Inuit Printmakers at Cape Dorset
Mayan artists working on the shores of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala
Folk artists, including William Edmundson and many anonymous makers

What did you take from them? 

A very direct approach to expression.
Poses that communicate emotion.
Color.

What twentieth-century artists do you admire? 

Some of my favorite artists include François Gilot, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, Rufino Tamayo, Romare Bearden, Marisol, Tàpies, Eduardo Chillida, Alex Katz, Basquiat, many of whom were non-representational figurative painters.

What do you write? 

I write memoir, creative nonfiction, and short stories.
I write about my emotional and spiritual life and the poetry of the world.

For material, I draw upon:
My childhood growing up in a small Wisconsin town.
My love for nature, beginning in childhood when I lived on a wildlife refuge.
Places I have lived, including the Midwest, Texas, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
Places I have traveled to, from England to Uruguay to Spain.