Artist Statement

As an artist, I am interested in the evolving transformations of living things as time moves everything forward; I strive to capture the moments of growth and decline that are so fleeting in nature.

My work is about the transformation of living forms. In the past, my work focused on the preadolescent and adolescent growth of my own children. The time that one grows from childhood to adulthood is fascinating because it is a point of tremendous change for both the body and the mind.

Presently, I am investigating the endangered and extinct species of the Susquehanna River area. My aim is to alert the public to the shapes we have lost and are losing. The thread that ties my works together is what is gained and lost as time progresses.

I find the physical awkwardness of the preadolescent stage in nature to be elegant. I am inspired by the works of photographers Sally Mann and Dianne Arbus, who brought elegance, grace, and humanity to a taboo subject matter. Just as Arbus was intrigued by the psychological aspects and physicality of unique human bodies, I am interested in investigating the uncertainties and experiences that youth go through with their own bodies as they approach adulthood. I see the stages that a young body goes through as moments in which the body develops material shapes that give identity as an adult. These material shapes are a strong part of my imagery.

Beyond my intrigue with the shapes of human bodies, I’m also fascinated with shapes produced throughout the life span of all living forms. Miniature shapes, such as microscopic cell structures in plants and animals, and massive shapes, like those of muscles and bones, are all interrelated and compelling to me because of their similarities. I am propelled to record my discoveries of the changes from beginning to end in all of nature both visually and psychologically.

Much of my artwork is photo-based manipulated works in Adobe Photoshop merged with hand drawings and output as either hand-pulled prints or ink-jet digital prints. I combine the media of drawing, printmaking and photography on the computer to get the results that I am most satisfied with. I find my propensity to draw is fueled by my desire to leave a physical mark on my art; the mark made is pared down to just the surface of paper and the mark of the tool that seconds later becomes a recorded memory. I am fascinated with mark making and find it to be a necessary part of my life.

I hope to make people appreciative of the precious moments of the transformations that humans, animals, and plants go through.