Memory: Paint, fabric, paper This work is triggered by old black and white photos that are cropped, abstracted and fragmented color compositions, never losing the figures but allowing the abstraction to go as far as it must in the painting.  By focusing in on a detail, I hope to convey the whole, as a dream fragment can sometimes convey a much larger message.  Inference, impressions, fragments: how well, how accurately do they convey the larger reality?

"It’s a girl." (click pdf at top right corner) is a series of mixed-media paintings referencing violence against girls and women. Second-hand dresses are combined with discarded wood, found metal, rocks, and broken bricks and then adhered to rough surfaces. I soak, spatter, twist, and stiffen each garment before gluing in place. I puncture fragile fabric with wood and metal held tightly by epoxy and screws. Each piece is a singular portrait of one violated human being. This work is created
to help repair our disconnection from those who are harmed and reconnect the viewer to real individuals who are not simply statistics.

Paint and wood is a body of work that immediately preceded It’s a girl. Discarded wood—wood on the street, in dumpsters, from apartment renovations or construction sites­- provides an unpredictable range of colors, shapes and textures, three interests that are present throughout all the work and drive the artist. 
 
Circles and Diamonds employ two very defined formats on which to combine paint, fabric, wood, and paper. These earlier pieces are more two-dimensional than the later work but were an integral part of the history leading up to working with paint and the more 3-dimensional materials of found wood and dresses.
 
The process of cutting and pasting, of adhering and layering, is integral to the making of every piece of art regardless of what objects or materials are used.

Click on Acrobat icon at top right for pdf about "It's a girl." and to download.