biography
I was born and raised in Oakland, California and attended UC Berkeley where I graduated with a degree in Art and Political Science and received the Dean’s Award for Painting. This was during the years of Vietnam anti-war protests, the Women’s Movement, and the emergence of the Black Panthers and SLA.
In response to spending my last year of college designing and printing anti-war posters, I moved to New York to learn more about what graffiti artists and other socially motivated artists were doing. I led art workshops with women inmates at Riker’s Island Prison and at the end of three months coordinated a show of inmate art at St. John the Divine.
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When I returned to San Francisco, I studied graphic design which I pursued for many years enjoying my work with clients to bring their vision to life. Also during this time my artistic pursuits turned to watercolor paintings of landscapes which evolved into nature journaling and teaching.
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Currently, I have devoted my artistic life to the exploration of my inner landscape through my alchemy and abstract sewing series.
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abstract sewing
My work explores balance and connection amidst the seeming chaos of our times. This pertains to personal relationships, local and global politics, as well as in the universe itself. I discover my own internal striving for these qualities in my artwork.
For the base layer I use paper with a gauze backing hand-made in the mountains of Nepal. Its use resonates with my desire to keep my footprint on the earth light. Thread and a sewing machine are my basic tools for adhering paper detritus to the surface. The background is enhanced with luminescent watercolor and metallic acrylic paints.
My process involves preparation of the background with watercolor, adding torn paper often tossed onto the surface at random. As the layers become more complex I work to discover how they connect paying close attention to the language the work is speaking through, various marks, colors, juxtaposition of elements and accidents.
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Learn more about Lokta paper, its source, and the people who make it outdoors in Nepal.