biography
Paper, thread and paint form the vehicle of expression for my curiosity about the natural world, human interactions and the cosmos. I love people and animals, my sewing machine, my family history of handwork, the colored shards of glass collected in my childhood and dreaming about the mysteries of physics and the universe. All of this weaves its way into my artwork. It’s play and meditation, thought and sorrow, and the joy of making a piece work, or what I call defining chaos.
Born and raised in Northern CA by my parents (an engineer and an artist) I was exposed to many social and political movements, and developed a close relationship to the natural world camping and hiking with my family.
I graduated from UC Berkeley with a Dean's Award in painting, moved to NY to explore political art and on returning to San Francisco I enrolled in a graphic design program.
In addition to my career in graphic design I've worked en plein air, taught watercolor nature journaling
workshops, and in the past decade I’ve been exploring an artform I call abstract sewing.
thread
Watercolor and acrylic are applied to the surface of Lokta paper which has gauze embedded on the back. Paper detritus is tossed onto the surface at random and attached with machine stitching. As the layers become more complex I discover how they connect, paying close attention to the language the work is speaking through various marks, colors, juxtaposition of elements and happy accidents.
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I am deeply grateful to the people of Nepal who craft Lokta paper. Learn more about Lokta paper, its source, and the efforts of Lama-Li to educate employees' children.
alchemy
Reactive acrylic “surfacers” interact with mild acids to create true rust and patina on the canvas, revealing themselves over the course of a few hours or days depending on heat and humidity. A pencil grid begins to “define the chaos” createing a structure that holds the dialogue between a variety of shapes and textures.