Artist Statement:

In a mystical, somewhat surreal fashion, I tell the stories of my life through my paintings, portraying myself as the little girl who roams from canvas to canvas. In time I sensed the stories begged to be told with the written word, and I complied. Merging my autobiographical paintings with narrative reflections, I humbly capture and expose the moments of my life, calling this body of work, A Visual Memoir—The Little Girl Is Me. These two genres collide to form a unique, therapeutic avenue of self-expression and opportunity for growth.

I view our lives as an accumulation of stories, unfolding without pause. My experiences during the creation of the paintings, coupled with writing the stories, has proven to be emotionally cathartic, an opportunity to re-script my yesterday’s with the wisdom of today. Deep self-reflection has enabled me to view my life as a spiritual journey, allowing me to reconsider the past through new eyes, a new understanding. I now have a strong belief that healing the inner world is a means to healing the external world – one painting at a time, one story at a time.

Our lives may look very different, with varied goals and intentions, however, as humans we carry a thread of commonality. My hope is that my Visual Memoir inspires others to re-script their past and reflect on the things that connect us, in ways in which we are fundamentally the same.