NEW SEASON
My artistic practice examines the weight we carry and the journeys we are on. As someone with a complex internal dialog, I see story and visual metaphors in ordinary moments; particularly in the Midwestern landscape. I note where a forest edge meets farmed fields, where self-seeded native grasses and trees grow along fencelines, and where property edges are contained by tall native grasses and sumac in the ditches along midwestern roadsides. I often imbue observed landscape and natural elements with meaning (pareidolia), history, personification, and power. Pareidolia is a cognitive and psychological phenomenon sometimes associated with cognitive survival or threat detection, and with cognitive flexibility which often aids emotional healing.

Composed largely of personal symbols and metaphors representing the interconnected relationships between natural phenomena, human impacts on the land, trauma, and healing, I aim to reflect shared experiences using the Midwestern landscape as a tacit storyteller. I see the story in growth cycles, weather systems, and seasons. I see story where plotlines meet edges of roads. Tethering together facets of living through challenging experiences and the process of healing from trauma is not unlike moving through a Midwestern winter in anticipation of spring.

In my newest diptych paintings, the mirrored images of tree branches and root systems are intended to invite curiosity or wonder. The mirrored compositions reference the ink blots of historical Rorschach tests (example of pareidolia) as well as provide a nod to bilateral stimulation, a key component of trauma therapies such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). These layered images reflect nature-based and psychological care practices that can positively impact psychological well-being.
The physicality of the large-scale dimensions and the conscious use of orange-red underpaintings blanketed in impasto and dry brushed whites and tonal grays functions as metaphor for concealment, transformation, and paradox; aiming for the sensation of the familiar-yet-overlooked.

Winter marks the end of one season and beginning of the next, yet winter also symbolizes death, struggle, renewal, rebirth, and transience, as well as hope, rest, and recovery. Snow tacitly transforms the landscape in a simultaneously peaceful and brutal manner; returning beauty and order to the harvested fields and bringing nutrients and protection to the seeds of native plants. Snow represents peace, purity, and light while simultaneously encompassing themes of melancholy, death, and immense silence.

After experiencing a series of traumatic losses and betrayals in a short period of time (2016-2019), I was encouraged to take a hiatus from my studio practice (2021-2023) and other things to focus on recovery. The focus on rest and the development of resources through a combination of parts-based therapy, emdr, and evidence-based nature-centered psychological interventions has reignited clarity and energy in my creative research. I am thankful to the psychologists and researchers who seek to bring specific and proven nature-based care into our lives, and to my family (mom!) and community, my therapist, and of course, Mother Nature and the Trees.