There are many ways to awaken to the present moment–yoga, church, transcendental meditation, and similar nice activities. My awakening was rude, however. My body went nuclear with its commitment to keeping me on the toilet; the clinical term for it is ulcerative colitis. The joy, focus, and serenity I once had as a teacher and art student was upended by panic running to the bathroom. The intensity of pain, whether from my digestive system, or from the fear and uncertainty it created, brought me to my knees. 

As I healed, I was no longer sitting in class, working on a painting, or observing light. Instead, I was catching myself as an active participant in the divinity of fleeting moments. The totality of existence would dawn on me as I began appreciating everything that had transpired leading to the present moment. The interconnectedness of all things, and the enormity of effort, choice, and chance left me brimming with tears of gratitude and awe. 

The paradox is that these sacred feelings are inextricable from the worst. A polished definition of purity emerged to encompass chaos and multitudes. I had questions about the nature of consciousness, how it exists within us, outside us, and between us. It felt urgent that I explore the implications of how we constantly shape, and are shaped by experience. 

My work follows a rich intensity of feeling, and an insatiable curiosity for humanity. I juxtapose form, vibrancy, and harmony against emptiness, darkness and chaos. I summon gratitude through joyful color and sprightly movement which echo dance and celebration. My use of symmetry alludes to rebirth, and awakening. Fluid shapes enmesh, open into caverns, and disappear to reference the interconnected flux of life and consciousness. The pieces I create are meant to serve as living, breathing relics of the human experience. 

There is often a lapse of time between finishing a work and understanding it. Thus, I anchor my work in these themes while designing through intuitive guidance, play, and experimentation. Viewers needn’t derive meaning that matches my intent. Rather, we can co-author an expanded conception of what we are looking at. The magic inherent in collaboration accomplishes my goal of providing a gateway for awareness, a space for people to contemplate, to be vulnerable, and enjoy the act of noticing.