My work reflects upon psychological spaces where interior and exterior are ambiguous and interchangeable. I am contemplating the internal worlds we inhabit whether voluntarily or in response to trauma. Love, relationships and loss fuel a continual search for belonging and a persistent pondering over the idea of home and whether this is found in an actual space or something unattainable altogether. I am also thinking about the complexities of navigating various societal expectations upon women, my own lived experience and the problem of desire. These themes are sometimes expressed through self-portraiture; a practice emerging out of the isolation of the Pandemic that persists. I am also examining aspects of femininity through the use of jello as both subject and metaphor. This rendered flesh, dressed up for consumption, temporarily conforms to a mold but proves transitory - whether devoured or melted away. Jello can hearken homey domesticity yet simultaneously feels artificial, other and familiar all at once. As indirect portraits, these semi-transparent entities also symbolize the public and private elements of an individual’s persona and what they choose to conceal or reveal to others.
In considering interior and exterior, whether through implied internal landscapes or actual physical spaces, outside comes in and a pervasive calm suggests things may not be as they seem. As a Los Angeles native, the idea of permanence is always just out of reach, where like shifting sands the landscape remains fluid. Botanicals and native plants function as additional symbolism in the work. Like time travelers, they span into both past and present, existing beyond ourselves and exhibiting a rebellious permanence. I am inspired by the promise embodied in a seed…where a seemingly dead object embodies the potential to become a living entity and agent of healing, beauty and sustenance.