The figure is a consistent source of inspiration for me. Figurative work especially allows for the possibility of empathy, recalling each viewer to the unifying experience of being human. Through primarily representing women, I explore ideas of identity, loss and reclamation, motherhood, loneliness, and isolation. These stories and ideas often come from my own experiences. Personal photos of myself, friends, or family members are the reference images that I use for my work, which ground it in specific history while still alluding to a larger narrative. My pieces consider the different spaces figures are given (or not) to exist in and whether or not the current container is appropriate. The home can be a place of paradox. While it houses loved ones, personal items, and places of comfort, the home can also be a place of isolation and exhaustion, never ending tasks and duties. In my work I explore this push and pull of space; taking the space one needs and also escaping the responsibilities of home for the freedoms found outside.
Working with these ideas, I explore figurative representation through expressive painting. I enjoy the energy and immediacy communicated through visible brushwork and embrace the coupling of abstraction with representation.