I work to spread the life-affirming power of art,

because in making art, people become creators, not consumers.

Creating is a way to find enough in our lives and communities,

rather than drowning in the capitalist-fueled endless need for more.

I believe in the transformative power of art on a societal and personal level. Making art of any sort is a political act in itself. All people’s lives should be filled with the making and experiencing of art. My art is both private and public, in the street and participatory. I hope it will make people ask questions and maybe laugh.

My community-based artistic practice draws on the innate artistic ability of all people to express themselves, which is distinct from teaching art. I create opportunities for creating and sharing art in public spaces, and I support all people to identify as artists. In addition, I teach at a public school in Santa Fe, New Mexico, bringing art experiences to middle school students as a way to help young people express themselves and be seen by the larger community.

My personal artistic practice merges painting, assemblage, and fiber arts to explore connections between mythology and contemporary issues. Several themes from my dream life run through my art: The labyrinthine or sinking house represents unstable family foundations and the traps of domesticity and societal roles for women. The sinking house also calls in ecological themes of climate change, sea-level rise and flooding. The boat is the means of escape and survival, and represents a connection to authentic self. While the house is found sinking underwater, the boat often sails the skies, and my paintings show a fascination with clouds as an escape from the waters.

Finally, my work calls on iconography of Goddesses: Persephone’s pomegranate and her journey to the underworld; Demeter, the bereft mother and her winged serpent or dragon; Artemis, the huntress protector of girls and women, with her rabbit; and the snake goddess of Knossis, as well as her later form as Ariadne with her thread. My art connects these immortal themes to passages and choices in my own life.