Painting has the power of taking a viscous medium and alchemizing an abstract idea or desire into a realized form out of that material. Painting = magic.
Current work has grown out of an interest in painting’s ability to embody, or at least investigate, perception and illusion, including exploring methods of optical illusion used in ancient theater machines and the earliest forms of projection using glass slides and candlelight. These thoughts on seeing expand into cinematic themes and imagery based on scans of my body.
Eyeballs, Oil on wood, 2025 // “Eyeballs” is a diptych portraying a scan of my retinas. A retinal scan, called an Optomap, is a procedure where a camera is used to create an image of the back of your eye, revealing the optic nerve, blood vessels and arteries. The modality of separate red and green lasers are used to illuminate the different parts of the eye. So the best way to see the eyeball is with some basic color theory. While making this painting I was using my eyes, the original camera, to observe my own eyes.
The End, Gouache & ink on wood, 2024 // Inspired by the film "The Grand Hotel", I painted this after the 2024 US presidential election results.
Turbulent Waves, Oil on wood, 2024
Magic Lantern (After Kircher), 2025, gouache & ink on panel // “Magic Lantern (After Kircher)”, is inspired by the German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher. In the best known illustration of his invention (a primitive slide projector) the projection is an image of the grim reaper holding an hourglass. Imagine thousands of years ago — before cameras, movies, television — entering a room with a floating image of the grim reaper lit up on the wall. That was real sorcery. I’ve replaced the grim reaper with a pregnant self portrait, thinking about painting, seeing, women’s reproductive rights and my own birth experiences.
Illumination
The Old Dark House (detail), Oil on wood, Work in progress
Escape on Avenue B, Oil on wood, Private Collection
The Search Continues Oil on wood Private Collection
Stargazer Oil on wood Private Collection
Go Between (The House We Would Have Built), Oil on wood
The Grand Hotel, Oil on wood
The Rebels' Hideout Oil on wood Private Collection
She is You Oil on wood
Untitled (detail)
9x13 foot backdrop painted for Dayton Dance Initiative performance of "In the Wake" Choreographed by Jennifer Sydor
9x13 foot backdrop painted for Dayton Dance Initiative performance of "In the Wake" Choreographed by Jennifer Sydor