Artist’s Statement | Overview Effect Series
Reclaiming fabric is part of a long matrilineal history for me, as my mother and grandmother repurposed fabrics for everyday items, letting nothing go to waste. I follow in that tradition, conscious of the environmental impact of modern global textile waste.
The texture of velvet in particular recalls the inky depth of the night sky, my chosen subject. Although velvet painting has a reputation for being kitsch or even tacky, I question whether that reputation speaks to the inherent value of the material or the artwork. I hope that viewers will decide for themselves where or whether to draw the line between kitsch, craft, and fine art.
My most recent series is entitled “The Overview Effect,” referencing a phenomenon where people in contexts much larger than themselves experience an enduring sense of connection with humanity and our planet. Humanitarian and ecological thought and action are exactly what I hope to help viewers manifest for themselves and our collective future.
First studied in astronauts, the Overview Effect can also happen for people immersed in nature, or while stargazing, on Earth. Each painting in the series is a diptych combining a scene on Earth with a scene from a photograph taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in space. The hexagonal shape of each scene mimics the shape of the JWST mirrors that capture astronomical images. What draws me to astronomy is the exploration into how stars are made, how we are made, and how everything that ever was has come to be and is connected down to a subatomic level. The awe of these discoveries is what I hope to explore in my artwork and share with the viewer.
Artist’s Statement | Cosmic Waves Series
My paintings invite the viewer into the humbling and transcendental experience of being fully immersed in a context larger than oneself, whether cultural, environmental, or universal. To do this I create landscapes, sometimes with astronomical elements, over the patterns and textures of reclaimed fabrics.
The fabric for these paintings was first passed on to me by my mother, a lifelong sewer. She grew up in post-WWII Europe, where everything was recycled, reused, or repurposed, and nothing went to waste. That mindset was passed down. Rather than paint over the entirety of the fabric to hide the colors or patterns, I let the fabric stand in for a piece of the painting and help tell the story. The fabric has a story as well, and often reminds me of a certain place or mood that I match with the painted subject matter of a place or experience I’d like to retell.
Each pattern or texture has a kind of visual vibration, like the background radiation that permeates the universe itself. We don’t think about it often, but it is always there. The pattern is simultaneously busy, keeping the viewer’s attention, and easy to ignore because the eye intuits that it is all the same. It is also intended to impose a surreal quality, which is often how a memory of a place or experience feels. In my paintings I seek to recreate moments of awe and tranquility with the hope of sharing a sense of wonder with others.
