I am inspired by visual stimuli, but in fact, the creativity that inundates my mind, spirit, and body is itself driven by cerebral mechanics and existential concepts -mental constructs that elicit a need to create and express ephemeral images that I assemble, overlap, work, and rework internally, often sketching, scribbling, or writing myself notes along the way. My convoluted process, however, does not reflect in the final works, that strive for balance and simplicity.
In high school, I spent my spare time in the art room and turned a broom closet into a darkroom to try my hand at photography and playing with light and shadow. At art college, I was lucky to have been able to start in the Interdisciplinary program (before choosing a major became mandatory.) By the end, my degree stated a photography major, however, I had completed equally senior-level courses in printmaking, papermaking, and sculpture. I did some weaving but was unable to get into higher-level classes. I later did a curatorial internship class through U of T and the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) with textiles as the focus.
My Art Thesis project was an Installation piece that employed bookbinding, papermaking, photography, collage, and lighting skills. It was an illustration of my grandmother’s memories throughout her life.
After graduation from the Ontario College of Art and Design, in Toronto, Canada, I embarked on an academic adventure at the University of Toronto, where I received and Hons. B.A. in Art History and a minor in Medieval Studies. I developed curatorial expertise through my course at the ROM and later an internship at the University Art Center, a museum and gallery space within U of T. After graduating I went on to curate a fine arts gallery in the Yorkville area of Toronto, and finally, I recently completed a with merit, Master’s Degree in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, England.
Diving into research inspires my creativity, it is this symbiotic relationship that propels my craft, concepts, and explorations forward.
The last piece is the fact that I became a mother, an experience that so deeply transformed me, that I feel as though I leaped up to another level that I never knew existed. From the cave to overlooking a ridge with vast expansive views of the world that stretches before me. It is exciting, terrifying, serenity, fulfillment, frustration, and accomplishment on a daily basis.
I began to paint with watercolours after my son was born. I learned to make my own paint from non-toxic pigments. Lately I expanded to include acrylic mediums. I work on archival paper and canvas. I use lightfast, good quality pigments and paints to create works that will last.
Scientific technology, textures, color, and processes from the natural world, travel, gardening, archeology, anthropology, space exploration, and textiles are some of the areas that I explore to feed my intellectual and creative needs.
