I grew up in and around the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. I studied art and many other wonderful, miscellaneous things at Wellesley College and received an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Since moving to Southwest Montana in 2011, I’ve found inspiration for my work in the history, flora and fauna of the American West.

STATEMENT

I make black and white portrait drawings of animals interlaced with colorful little worlds of painted flora, birds and insects. The black and white areas of my work are drawn with tattoo needles on scratchboard panels. The colored elements are painted in acrylics.

I love observing, learning and wondering about wildlife, from our big Rocky Mountain fauna to the tiniest little garden spider. I’m especially interested in the similarities and connections between human beings and wildlife. What does it feel like to be a bighorn sheep, a chipmunk, a bumblebee? I like imagining.

I am drawn to stylized botanical-inspired surface patterns. To me they suggest distinctly human spaces that are divided from nature, while simultaneously expressing a deep longing to reconnect with it.

My most visceral love is for flowers. Spending time looking at them closely floods me with peace and wonder. Their symbolism is central to my world view that life is beautiful largely because it is so fleeting. Conceptually I am interested in the garden as a bridge between the human world and the natural world.