biography
Born and raised in Oakland, California I attended UC Berkeley where I graduated with a degree in Art and Political Science and received the Dean’s Award for Painting. I was deeply affected by the social upheaval of Vietnam anti-war protests, the Women’s Movement, and the emergence of the Black Panthers and SLA.
In response to spending my last year of college designing and printing anti-war posters, I moved to New York to learn more about what graffiti artists and other political artists were creating. Through Art without Walls I led art workshops with women inmates at Riker’s Island Prison, and at the end of three months curated an exhibit of prisoners' art at St. John the Divine in Manhattan.
​
Later I returned to San Francisco to train as a graphic designer. Strong principles of design form the structure for my art which explores balance and connection midst chaos. This pertains to personal relationships, local and global politics, the impacts of climate change, as well as volatility in the universe itself.
​
thread
Watercolor and acrylic are applied to the surface of Lokta paper which has gauze embedded on the back. Paper detritus is tossed onto the surface at random and attached with machine stitching. As the layers become more complex I discover how they connect, paying close attention to the language the work is speaking through various marks, colors, juxtaposition of elements and happy accidents.
​
I am deeply grateful to the people of Nepal who craft Lokta paper. Learn more about Lokta paper, its source, and the efforts of Lama-Li to educate employees' children.
metal
Reactive acrylic “surfacers” interact with mild acids to create true rust and patina on the canvas, revealing themselves over the course of a few hours or days depending on heat and humidity. A pencil grid begins to “define the chaos” createing a structure that holds the dialogue between a variety of shapes and textures.