I enjoy challenging traditional methods of drawing, often taking a more three-dimensional approach. In the past, I have defied drawing conventions by allowing the work to come off the wall, allowing for a closer interaction between the drawing and the viewer. I gravitate towards delicate materials, that have an ethereal quality, and then deconstruct them. In pushing the material to the limit, I create visual tension between the fragile substrate and a tedious approach in technique. My work looks delicate, but carries a heavy weight of highly emotional meaning.
The themes in my work emerge directly from my personal experience, addressing issues of displacement and the search for hope. For example, my interest in East Asian culture, folktales, and the unique number of times that I have moved houses in my life all serve as inspiration for the work that I create. Folktales often serve as a basis to communicate personal narratives and provide an additional layer of understanding for the viewer. I also use text within the foreground and background of my work to formally create movement and emphasize context. The words and phrases that I use draw the viewer closer to the work and add dimension to the subject matter.
In my most recent body of work, I have allowed the subject to stand independently without the use of text, as with 24 Homes and Counting. I have created a series of 24 drawings in needlepoint depicting street maps of houses that I have lived in during the past 20 years. The process of embroidery in these drawings contextualizes the act of sewing as a metaphor to explore issues of home, domesticity and emphasize my own experience moving from one home to another. The embroidery hoop serves as a literal and metaphorical framework, supporting the idea of the home being a temporary placeholder. For this body of work, I took inspiration from the cover art of the novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgimage by Haruki Murakami which depicts train intersections reflecting the different stages of his life. I also drew inspiration from Elaine Reichek who, explores the relationship between text and image, creating “linear structures” with the combination of text and needlework. I’m also inspired by Reichek’s mindset of wanting, “to add a different material to the language of abstract painting”.
Although I use my work to express my own feelings and life journey, my work connects with the viewer by touching on the universal through the personal. The feeling of wanting something more, or the feeling of displacement is common when one is trying to figure out who they are as a person.
The themes in my work emerge directly from my personal experience, addressing issues of displacement and the search for hope. For example, my interest in East Asian culture, folktales, and the unique number of times that I have moved houses in my life all serve as inspiration for the work that I create. Folktales often serve as a basis to communicate personal narratives and provide an additional layer of understanding for the viewer. I also use text within the foreground and background of my work to formally create movement and emphasize context. The words and phrases that I use draw the viewer closer to the work and add dimension to the subject matter.
In my most recent body of work, I have allowed the subject to stand independently without the use of text, as with 24 Homes and Counting. I have created a series of 24 drawings in needlepoint depicting street maps of houses that I have lived in during the past 20 years. The process of embroidery in these drawings contextualizes the act of sewing as a metaphor to explore issues of home, domesticity and emphasize my own experience moving from one home to another. The embroidery hoop serves as a literal and metaphorical framework, supporting the idea of the home being a temporary placeholder. For this body of work, I took inspiration from the cover art of the novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgimage by Haruki Murakami which depicts train intersections reflecting the different stages of his life. I also drew inspiration from Elaine Reichek who, explores the relationship between text and image, creating “linear structures” with the combination of text and needlework. I’m also inspired by Reichek’s mindset of wanting, “to add a different material to the language of abstract painting”.
Although I use my work to express my own feelings and life journey, my work connects with the viewer by touching on the universal through the personal. The feeling of wanting something more, or the feeling of displacement is common when one is trying to figure out who they are as a person.