Artist Statement
My work is a celebration of diversity, self-love, and changing people’s perceptions. The portraits I create are personal, with the creative decisions based on conversations with each subject filtered through my artistic lens as a highly sensitive, intuitive empath. I asked what has impacted them most in their lives— seeking to understand how people are shaped by their experiences and the skills they learned to cope without focusing on any particular knowledge or trauma. The discussions vary on race, sexual orientation, mental health and being transgender, among other intersectional subjects. I focus on the hope and growth from their learnings; and, in doing so, put a voice to the face.
The portraits resemble quilts with geometric patterns inspired by the tiled walls of the Bishop Arts area of Dallas. Stitching is an integral part of my work and the viewer can see the DNA from my fashion merchandising background. The quilting reference, symbolic of our American patchwork of cultures, all of which delineate the hard-worn scars of our histories and the healing within. Quilting for me is as kinetic as a visual manifestation of this tension. My first memories of quilting began weaving through my childhood thanks to my Grandmother’s and great-aunts’ ritual union with fabrics on our family farm.
Now, more than ever, is a time to listen to each other, to build a better understanding and discover a path to empathy.
