Human beings like to make connections. I believe we are mythmakers, storytellers, masters of seeing the similar. My work explores our tendency to find human narratives in nature and science. I examine the ways those connections are successful—and how they often fail.
I use a unique process of my work, going back and forth between traditional and digital media. Much of my work starts out as digital drawings, that become archival laserjet prints (called glicées). I then cut out sections of the prints by hand and integrate them into my large acrylic paintings. This process of layering and connecting mediums reflects my interest in layering and connecting ideas.
When it comes to ideas, most of the connections I draw are between my own personal and political life and the natural world around me. I see the natural world as fraught with fables and allegories of love, trust, and defense mechanisms. I see questions of what we should value about the world around us, about each other, and what it means to be human.
I see my own anxieties and hopes reflected in the collaborations of bees and the midwinter insomnia of bats. I see battles against bigotry in the fight against invasive plant species and in our attempts to understand our ancestors. I see both the value and dangers of anger reflected in a prairie fire.
My work invites viewers to see the world as I do and share in my curiosity and explorations. Just as I invite viewers to reflect on their own surroundings, I also invite them to explore their own ideals and challenge dominant narratives about nature, science, and identity.