My work currently centers around oil paintings in which I collage different images together in such a way that they appear to grow from one another, creating an effect of movement. I am extremely meticulous and the paintings I execute are highly detailed. I think of my paintings as spreading like a bruise across a canvas, with one image morphing out of another. I am inspired by the bright colors and clean lines of Pop Art, as well as the Surrealist Movement, but prefer not to classify my own style in terms of an association with others’ work. Thematically, I am exploring the pain I’ve had to undergo as a survivor of domestic abuse, and my own search for identity in the aftermath of eighteen years of allowing others to define who I was supposed to be.
Since arriving in Ventura nine months ago, I have exhibited my work three times. During one of the first friday events I was given a wall at the Bell Arts Factory upon which to display eight of my pieces. This event allowed me to begin establishing contacts within the art world in Ventura, and since then I have developed a relationship with the curator of the Ventura County Museum of Art, Anna Bermudez. I had the incredible opportunity in November to participate as a featured artist in that establishment’s Day of the Dead exhibition. I had a piece hanging in a silent auction there as well as my own altar that combined painting, ink drawing, sculpture, and found object art to create what I view as a powerful statement on the multidimensional struggle of anorexia that effects so many teens today. This weekend, I also exhibited at the Ventura County Museum of Art, with a display of about two dozen paintings as a part of ArtWalk. I was approached at this show by an agent who represents Ventura artists, Linda Hallberg, who has offered to help me find further venues at which to exhibit my artwork. I look forward to participating in many more shows in the future and feel that I’ve already begun establishing a foundation for my career in Ventura.
As an artist, I am mostly self taught, as I believe that practice truly is the key to developing any skill and my prolificness has kept me perpetually engaged in a process of learning and growing artistically. My art education includes highlights of my high school’s Advanced Placement Studio Art class, which I took twice. My second year I achieved a perfect score of a 5 on the AP Studio Art portfolio evaluation. Furthermore, I had the opportunity several times throughout this period of my studio to compete in art competitions and in that way gain experience. I have taken art classes for a semester at Pepperdine University, as well as for two semesters at Ventura College. In addition to being a student, I have also taught art at the Aloha Hive summer camp in Fairlee, Vermont. I taught classes in simple crafts and cartoon drawing, as well as acrylic and oil painting, and was rewarded to witness a flood of creativity and talent from the girls, age seven to thirteen, with whom I worked. Outside of the classroom, I have also worked on commission many times at this point in my life. I painted a mural in her home for Mrs. Carla London of Escondido, and completed works such as a tile walkway for St. Gabriel’s Church in San Diego that depicts in painted images the Stations of the Cross. My artistic interests are not limited to two dimensional work, and I regularly challenge myself by exploring unfamiliar media. A few months ago, I wrote, illustrated, and self published two books, a novella and my first novel. This was an incredible experience and I can definitely see myself interpreting my artistic expression through literature again in the future.