Statement

I create painted collages on shaped aluminum and immersive fiber installations that explore healing, memory, and resilience through both personal and mythological lenses. My work ranges from intimate wall-based pieces to room-sized environments, shared in galleries, academic venues, and community spaces.

My collaged painting series, including Mnemosyne Rising, transforms trauma through what I call "radical repair." Named for the Greek goddess of memory, these works sublimate scars from a family history of violence into densely layered visual worlds. I begin with drawing—often referencing medical or crime scene photography—then build up surfaces with oil paint, graphite, charcoal, and alcohol ink on canvas and paper. These materials are hand-cut and adhered to shaped aluminum panels, creating organic overlays where plant life imagery suggests how healing becomes possible through time's passage and nature's overgrowth.

The Elixir series continues this exploration of transformation, drawing from personal and family history to symbolize emotional and physical trauma. Through layering oil paint, graphite, charcoal, and alcohol ink, I merge these raw beginnings with natural forms like coral, seaweed, and flowers. These organic elements reflect the power of time, nature, and creativity to repair and reclaim—both mystical and personal ways to turn hurt into beauty and create space for renewal.

In contrast, my Lethe's Garden series references the mythological river of forgetting that flows through Hades. These mixed media works on paper feature lush, energetic patterning in gouache, ink, and colored pencil, where density sometimes functions as erasure—particularly in the ghost-like graphite appearing at the margins.

My large-scale installations include heat-molded acrylic works like Thalassa and Hydra, where laser-cut frosted acrylic is hand-shaped and drawn upon with lightfast colored pencil. Thalassa honors the Greek primordial goddess of the sea, while Hydra references the mythological creature whose regenerative power serves as a proxy for my own spirit. Additionally, my suspended fiber installation Spell Tapestry creates kaleidoscopic environments using fragmented colored film sewn with collaged drawings, offering healing spaces for contemplation and renewal.

Earlier bodies of work incorporate ephemeral materials such as silk and organza with LED lighting, video, and sound. Using techniques inspired by Korean bojagi, these suspended installations explore the permeable boundary between living and dead, creating translucent layers that serve as proxies for memory and loss.

Drawing from the Pattern and Decoration movement, second wave feminism, California Light and Space, and alternative craft histories, my practice centers on creating beauty from brokenness. Through painting, drawing, and sewing, I pursue wholeness—mining memories to rewrite history through a newly empowered self.