artist statement

My work is inspired by daily life, capturing a mood, or a moment frozen in time. Each piece reflects a narrowing world brought on by the loneliness and beauty of new motherhood, the isolation of raising an only child during the pandemic, and the loss of community in an era of increasing political polarization.

I am influenced by Pre-Raphaelite themes of inwardness, situating figures in a claustrophobic domestic space. I often use closely cropped or distant figures, windows, or outsized shadows to convey tension between interiority and exteriority in the artist’s relationship to the world. At the same, time, zooming in to each subject allows me to express the joy and wonder also found in one’s confinement—whether the delicate green undertone in a child’s skin, or a droplet of water condensing on a cup.

I am a trained historian with a Ph.D in Victorian cultural history. My approach to watercolor evolves from the drawing practices of nineteenth-century travelers. Beginning with a careful drawing, I develop each image through intense expressionistic colors. The movement of pigment on paper often finds its own path, leaving delicate edges, like scars. Each painting encourages the viewer to reflect on their own enclosures and the beauty found therein.