Bio:
I am a New England native, having grown up in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, while visiting my family regularly in my birth state of Vermont. I graduated from cosmetology school and worked in the salon industry for about five years before enrolling in Mount Wachusett Community College’s fine art program in 2019. Here, I was introduced to printmaking, and I eventually chose to transfer into Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford after being awarded the Regent Scholarship, and spent the next two years refining my practice and artistic style, while gaining experience as a teaching assistant and interning at AJ Masthay studios.
I find myself continually drawn to the complex, repetitive, fluid patterns found in the natural world, such as in rock strata, aurora borealis, and muscle fibers. I combine these curvilinear lines and repeating motifs with the human figure as well as botanical elements, often drawn from my father’s garden.
Working in relief printmaking and lithography, I believe the choice of paper is a critical aspect of the composition, as the tone, translucency, and texture integrate with the imagery.
I often use models as a surrogate to stand in for myself as a way of being able to keep a boundary between myself and my work, much of which is a visualization of my emotions as a person who struggles with anxiety. I often associate these feelings with colors; muted color palettes represent the feeling of numbness when my mind starts running so fast that I can’t form a coherent thought, while bright, vibrant color palettes portray a nagging intrusive thought that crowds out all other thoughts. The swirling lines can be seen as a manifestation of chaotic, jumbled thoughts and feelings, and all over compositions crowd the frame as a manifestation of claustrophobia.