A note from the artist, 2025
The past several years has been a tumultuous time in our country. We all have our own ways of coping - mine has been my work. When I feel myself getting overwhelmed, I return to my studio. The work re-centers, gives me hope, and new things have evolved as a result.
The natural world is the driving force in my work. The botanicals, seeds to plants, beautiful forms - flowers, fibers to harvest, some naturally dyed - all cooked - beaten -a process dating back over 2,000 years ago. The imagery I use has evolved - a sense of beauty, a sense of reflection.
Every work entails a return to the symbolic meaning – of the plant or the color, or the imagery. The words all cluster and return to- truth, peace, love, beauty, tolerance, stability, strength and protection.
An important element in this body of work is the “weaving” process - a lattice work of strips of multihued fibers of banana, flax, cattail, iris, cotton and hemp-many naturally dyed. The making of hundreds of fiber strips and weaving them together-symbolizes that we are all connected-we all have something in common - we can come together. In a period of great divisiveness, these woven elements symbolize the strength we derive from interconnection and the brilliance of our multicolored community.
The pieces begin with a photograph from which both a theme and tone emerge. I then select a color palate to support and illuminate the tone and add woven lattice, eco-prints and found objects to convey and exemplify the theme. Finally, the vessels, which reflect the turbulent journey we all must take to honor and preserve what is most important to us. These images evoked in me profound and diverse feelings about the core values of our society and how this country has been built.
The Butterfly Effect has been an on-going series of pieces I have created from the asclepias - the milkweed plant. The milkweed is the sole plant that the Monarch butterfly lays its ‘eggs. As man eliminates the milkweed plant, so do we eliminate the Monarch butterfly.
The Truth Continuum explores issues about the risks to our environment, the intolerance towards diverse communities and the threats to our core freedoms.