CONTACT ME

BIOGRAPHY

I was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1975. Since early childhood I have expressed myself through art, experimenting with multiple media and in multiple disciplines. I attended Drake University where I received a BFA in Fine Arts for Musical Theater, but my time in college also taught me printmaking, scenic design and costume design. My initial thought was to become a costume designer after college. I received multiple offers to graduate schools, but ultimately chose to move to Seattle to work as a freelance artist. I spent a long year in a cold warehouse creating original paintings to be mass-produced for Costco. It was an interesting experience and taught me that versatility and speed are great assets. Also- nothing is precious and everything can be created once again.

In 1999 I received an offer to move across the country to work with the prestigious Blue Man Group in NYC as their wardrobe supervisor. It wasn’t the costume designing experience I hoped for, but it was an incredible education nonetheless. I spent two amazing years with Blue Man Group, traveling with them and helping to create their signature look for their new Vegas show. My amazing connections there led to multiple opportunities to design costumes for theatre and movies, which I did for several years. Never to be satisfied doing just one thing, I also worked as a successful scenic painter and musical theatre actress, both in NYC and regionally.

Around 2005 I began to focus exclusively on mural painting in NYC, both private and corporate commissions, both inside and outside. I did this for several years and you can still see my work throughout the 5 boroughs of NYC.

Mural painting is hugely satisfying work but it is incredibly hard on the body. About 2012 I decided that I was finally ready to start painting for myself, to experiment and discover what I wanted to say with my art. I retired from acting, designing, mural-painting and wholly focused on oil-painting on canvas in the comfort of my own apartment (even if that meant a 4’ x 4’ area of my living room). I painted like that, cramped in a tiny NYC apartment, for 6 years before finally having the common sense to move to Bucks County, PA, where I can proudly say I have my own studio in a lovely cabin in the woods where I can paint to my heart’s content.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am exploring in ever more complex ways the female nude reimagined as an auto-biographical statement.

I began with the whimsical, - color and light and patterns that celebrated female beauty. My subjects were my friends and lovers and my goal was to show my love for them through inventive and collaged portraiture. I prefer oil paint for portraiture to other mediums for its unrivaled range of color and luminosity. Sometimes I pair this with foil for added dimensions of light.

Over time I have shifted from an overt sexuality to something more nuanced and complex, reflecting my own shifting attitudes toward what is most alluring and compelling. The story is no longer, “Look at me because I am beautiful”. The story is now, “This is who I am and what I choose to reveal (or not reveal).” Expanding on the agency of the subject has led me to including their environment, to better set their story in time and place, to show context. This has brought me to this moment, where I find I bounce between the figurative and the abstract in my journey to express a moment, a feeling of significance, to fix and hold something fleeting and lost.