The Paper Dolls series unfolded quite by accident, or perhaps it was by luck? I discovered a dissonant joy and longing in the repeating nameless- faceless forms of the vaguely female shapes I cut while playing with my daughter. I enjoyed how the ambiguity of each doll shape would fade away as each new element was added, just as each experience we go through adds another layer to who we are.
The experience of raising a girl also called me to question what it means to be female. How could I help my daughter flourish as a whole person without imposing my own inherited perceptions of gender upon her?
Graffiti-like text beneath layers of spray paint would reveal fragments of a conversation, words from a poem I may have written, lyrics of a song, even my darkest secrets…With overlapping dolls holding hands, I would explore my own connections with others.
My art has many influences, from early cave paintings to street art. There is something to be said about the primal urge to leave ones’ mark. Something even more powerful for a female artist to be able to leave hers after a long history of erasure.
My love for color and studies in abstract painting has been another inspiration, as well the American folk art of quilting; how quilting events often carried social and political significance, and how a quilt would ultimately become a mosaic of a life. Each painting would converge in a “patchwork” of thoughts and memories…a narrative in paint.
