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Statement / CV
Art, for me, is cathartic. It serves as an outlet for releasing deep-seated pains, capturing fleeting memories, and for understanding & documenting my life experience. My work conveys a sense of nostalgia, longing, and sometimes, hope. It helps me to make sense of things, to communicate, to find closure & contentment, and to attempt to make permanent what is impermanent.
As a mixed-media artist, discovering new processes leads to the use of new materials. This experimentation lends to a wide range in my artwork where the concept of materials as metaphor is often present. Though my medium may change, a common aesthetic & thematic thread in my work is that it often embodies a romantic sense of history, at once intensely personal yet identifiably universal. The work is drawn together by my play of intimate and collective associations conjuring a sentimental take on things past. The use of nostalgic personal relics, found objects, and salvaged materials conveys a kind of reverent storytelling and the piecing together of former times and experiences. At times, this process of resolving and documenting reveals sequestered obsessive and compulsive tendencies - exuding a possible attempt at control or the lack thereof. Some of the time, this repetitive process may relieve & comfort, at other times, may aggravate.
My work touches on themes of life, death, & rebirth. It concurrently works through themes of vulnerability & strength, abandonment & devotion, and loss & preservation. In consequence, I hope to connect to the viewer on a broad, empathetic level while also providing an intimate experience and a glimpse into a private world.
Born in Camarillo, CA Lives in Philadelphia, PA
Education
2011
Certificate in Fashion Studies, Moore College of Art and Design - Philadelphia, PA
2002
BFA in Painting & Art History, University of South Carolina - Columbia, SC
International School of Painting, Drawing, & Sculpture - Umbria, Italy
Exhibitions
2012
Momenta Art, 17th Annual Spring Benefit - Brooklyn, NY
Family Business, It's A Small, Small World, curated by Hennessy Youngman - New York, NY
The Gallery at 543 at the Navy Yard, ACHIEVEability Benefit Auction - Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia City Hall, Fiber Philadelphia 2012: Meta-Fiber, juried by Sarah Archer, Chief Curator of the Philadelphia Art Alliance - Philadelphia, PA
Sweet Jane, 2nd Saturday Featured Artist - Philadelphia, PA
The Gallery at 543 at the Navy Yard, Solo Show: 1000 Works Project & Other Flags - Philadelphia, PA
2011
The Gallery at 543 at the Navy Yard, Our BackYard - Philadelphia, PA
Momenta Art, 16th Annual Spring Benefit - New York, NY
2007
10 Storehouse Row at The Navy Yard, The Dialogical Imagination - Charleston, SC
2006
The Creek Club at I'On, Montessori School of Mt. Pleasant Art Auction - Charleston, SC
2003
University of Newcastle, Paintings and Drawings from USC - Ourimbah, Australia
Space 1026, Edible Art - Philadelphia, PA
2002
Space 1026, Flip Book Festival - Philadelphia, PA
University of South Carolina, 47th Annual Art Auction - Columbia, SC
The Art Garage, Billy Maker & Emily Ruiz - Columbia, SC
International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture, Group Show - Umbria, Italy
The Art Garage, 3D @ USC - Columbia, SC
1710-B Greene Street, Exhibitor & Co-organizer of A Gathering II - Columbia, SC
Benedict College, Art & Literature Renaissance - Columbia, SC
McMaster Gallery, Art at USC Juried Student Art Show - Columbia, SC
2001
SC State Fair Fine Art Exhibition & Merit Award - Columbia, SC
University of South Carolina, 46th Annual Art Auction - Columbia, SC
McMaster Gallery, Art at USC Juried Student Art Show - Columbia, SC
McMaster College at USC, Installations - Columbia, SC
Hunter-Gatherer, Exhibitor & Co-organizer of A Gathering - Columbia, SC
2000
University of South Carolina, 45th Annual Art Auction - Columbia, SC
Hunter-Gatherer, Co-organizer of The Eyelum Project - Columbia, SC
Press / Publications
2012
Philadelphia Weekly: Arts & Culture
Free People, Blog Feature
Tabitha Emma, Blog Feature
2007
Charleston City Paper, Art Review: The Dialogical Imagination
Shared Imagination: The Old Navy Base's 10 Storehouse Row steps it up
2001
The Daily Gamecock
2000
Garnet & Black
1999
Garnet & Black
Affiliations / Experience
Chinoo Designs
2011 - Philadelphia, PA Freelance Fashion Illustrator
Allan Stone Gallery
2011 / 2005 / 2004 / 2003 - New York, NY Freelance Gallery Assistant
Kaleidoscope Arts Enrichment Program
2010 / 2009 - Philadelphia, PA Teacher
Creative Spark Center for the Arts
2007 / 2006 - Charleston, SC Teacher
David Beck, Artist
2005 - San Francisco, CA Studio Assistant
via Allan Stone Gallery, NY for MVSEVM commissioned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC