acrylic on canvas
72 × 60 in.
SOLD
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This mask-like composition is titled “Head Mirror,” the large circle at the top reminiscent of those worn by doctors in the mid-18th century. Here, the mirror idea becomes an extension of a healer’s perception and transforms the gaze into a tool for illuminating dark, concealed spaces within. This act of bringing unconscious or hidden aspects of the self into conscious awareness becomes therapeutic, sparking processes of understanding, the shrinking and befriending of monsters, and ultimately transformation.
Furthering the symbolism of the mirror are ideas around the self examining the self (introspection), the search for inner truth, and identifying attachments. This recursive self-reflection, like a mirror bouncing off a mirror, culminates in fractalization and the practitioner becomes both the observer and the observed–the boundary between subject and object dissolving. This deconstruction of habitual seeing as well as the interruption of default cognitive pathways creates space for radical openness. From this place, we might ultimately experience a breaking of collective unconscious patterns and a revealing of our fundamental interconnectedness.
The big open circle also references Rainer Maria Rilke’s concept of das offene or “the open.” It’s the same idea–contacting that unmediated experience of the present moment and things as they are, unoccluded by judgements and wiring in the brain. The small “tree” at the bottom represents organic growth and rootedness. The white milkweed pod schematic over the black area symbolizes the function of the seed and its abundant repetition of life’s blueprint.
The repeating shapes such as the black arcs act like mantras in which a seemingly random or insignificant element becomes powerful through repetition. The five, small translucent criss-crosses symbolize the intersection of the divine with the mundane. The black and white diamond shapes function like neural switches, creating binary and non-binary mapping of perception–the black diamond wouldn’t exist without the white outer shapes that frame it; the white shapes cohere because of the black diamond.
The operational modes of the mask go like this: Disruption, Reconfiguration, Expanded Awareness, Liberation.
acrylic on canvas
72 × 60 in.
NFS
The form this piece took on is very surprising as it’s quite obviously an angel with a large, open heart. I spent months trying to understand this work and in my searching came upon an idea from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies in which he views suffering as a "terrible angel." For Rilke, our deepest suffering contains a sacred, transformative potential that he personifies as an "angel" – terrible not because it's malevolent, but because it's overwhelmingly powerful and beyond our ordinary comprehension. This angel represents both destroyer and creator. The "terrible angel" emerges when we stop resisting pain and if not fully inhabit it, at least get curious about it. [READ MORE…]
acrylic on canvas
60 × 72 in.
I titled this piece “Ruche” because the overall composition resembles a ruched bodice. This act of symbolically gathering time within this liminal space that I currently inhabit gives me the false sense of control that I crave, while also nodding to the themes of dress making and costume that runs through much of my work.
The ruched bodice metaphor is also about the body that has carried and nurtured. I have seen my own body swell and contract bringing two children into the world. Much of my existence has shaped around and been shaped by the crucible that is motherhood.
Further, the bodice as ceremonial costume prepares one for initiation and becomes a portal. And in this way painting has served me too–as an ongoing ritual and a sacred place where the veil between two worlds grows thin.