The form and content of my work lie in an interest in allegorical representations of the body, particularly the intersection of its internal and external worlds. The ways in which humans contemplate, manipulate, and attempt to dominate their experience of the body, regardless of historical moment, often reflect my own burden of the body/spirit dichotomy. Through my work I attempt to speak to the experience of being confined to a body without being “traditionally figurative”; instead using visual references to the alignments and bilateral symmetry of the human body, its layers of tissues, and its ceaseless cycles of renewal and decay.

The imagery and symbols of the past that are incorporated into my visual vocabulary are perceptible evidence of culturally tainted and often erroneous explanations of the body. I naturally gravitate toward forms from a variety of sources: medieval “medical” anatomicals; 14th century Tuscan altarpieces (particularly dealing with the martyrdoms and ecstatic experiences of the saints); 17th century alchemical etchings which encode bodily processes into the occult; and gynecological diagrams and related design motifs of the Victorian era. While these are indeed varied and eclectic interests, they are linked in being the visual results of past attempts to make more manageable the anxiety we feel in existing in a tangible, imperfect, and potentially “sinful” form. Before Western science’s questionable modern “domination” of the body, the prior unexplainable, uncontrollable and somewhat mystical qualities of inhabiting a human form left a very specific and fascinating visual legacy in art and culture.

In 2001, the figure of the rabbit began making a recurring appearance in my work. As a metaphor for the body, the rabbit represents proliferation, fertility and luck; yet in moments of moral cleansing the rabbit symbolizes trickery, lasciviousness, and vice. This contradiction mirrors my own conflicted experience of inhabiting a female body. The rabbit is at times blatantly present in my work, sometimes as a surrogate for myself, but is often replaced by gross natural materials (such as raw beeswax and burnt handmade papers) to achieve a visceral quality that self-consciously attempts to reconcile itself with what is considered “pretty” or “feminine” to the Western eye. Simply put, the intersection between “beauty” and the “grotesque”, the spiritual and the bodily, between virtue and vice is what motivates me to make artwork.

I enjoy particularly incorporating traditional materials into unorthodox methods when exploring this content. My mixed-media pieces are the result of years of trial and error and the ensuing studio and conservation disasters. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I still like to “reset” my practice and perspective by also working with traditional painting techniques of the medieval and Renaissance eras, specifically indirect oil and egg tempera painting, as well as various printmaking techniques. Many of the art historical references I use for imagery were originally created in these mediums and I find practicing and understanding them help me to better commune with them and in turn more effectively bastardize them into something new.

Tattooing has been in my life for over fifteen years, I myself having practiced the craft professionally since 1996. Through graduate school, the genuine connection it possesses with my artwork was made readily apparent, as was its role in my interest in the body, tissue, and the lineage of particular symbols and images. Destroying skin in order to create an image directly reflects the underlying purpose of my mixed-media pieces. While I find tattooing to be incredibly creative, the tattooist is essentially acting as a surrogate for someone else’s idea. People have intensely varied motives for indelibly marking their bodies- from the blatantly superficial to the sincerely profound and spiritual. To not be judgmental at times can be challenging, and whether I want to or not, I find I learn something from every tattoo I do and every person I tattoo. I absorb a lot of amazing information from the strangers I work on- at times useless information, sometimes emotionally damaged, but at other times truly inspiring and enlightening. Clients are immediately thrust into the delicate and sometimes uneasy position of having to instantly trust another stranger with their blood, pain, fear, excitement and vanity. A lot of these emotions are analogous to how I feel and relate to my own body. I couldn’t imagine not having the privilege of relating to others in this way… I’ve been fortunate enough to receive a vital education through tattooing that is easily as valuable to my life and work as the ten years I spent in art school.