Biography

I create art because I cannot “not” create. Sometimes it feels obsessive compulsive and provides a relief for me from the constant influx and activity firing in my brain. My mind is quieted when I process my surroundings in this way. I believe artist to be antennas. We pick up indiscriminately the whirl of activity that surrounds us. We are the true historians of society. Absorbing, digesting, and excreting what it is to be living in this time. I try to edit some of the information coming in during my digesting phase. I sit with it, contemplate, and reframe the experience in a way that feels cohesive and aesthetically accessible. I want people to engage with the works, to relate, and in that way to feel connected and comforted. This is why the aesthetics always are of my primary concern; they provide the lure, the dance on the retina that starts the dialogue.

My mixed media paintings are architectural. Trained primarily in photography and welding my materials are carefully chosen. I photograph my subject with a traditional medium format camera and occasionally digitally. I Shoot from varying vantage points and over a course of days. I allow myself to become intimate with my surroundings and form a relationship. Then I begin constructing sculptural collages utilizing my own prints. I seek out objects that lend themselves visually and conceptually to the subject I am dealing with. Metals, in general, have an unspoken vocabulary that is a useful tool for subtly transmitting information to the viewer. For instance, copper, by nature, conducts energy and therefore I use it symbolically for its lively aspects. On the other end of the spectrum there is the dead toxic dullness of lead, which is useful as a counterpoint to the copper. Sometimes found objects from the site inform the direction and work themselves into the artwork My vision has always been to evoke how a place feels. The interpretation of time, space, and subtle nuances associated with the experience of the subject. Texture and tonal shifts round out visual impact.

 

Education

The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, Exploring Etching,
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, Fifth Year Certificate
Tufts University & School of the Museum of Fine Arts, B.F.A. & Diploma in Art, cum laude
Chamberlayne Junior College, Boston, MA, A.A.S. cum laude in Design, magna cum laude

 

Awards

Paul Fleck Fellowship, Banff Art Centre Residency, Banff Centre Canada, 2021

London Summer Intensive Residency , The Slade School of Fine Art, London, 2017

Morris Squire Foundation Residency, Santa Barbara, CA, 2016

Paul Fleck Fellowship, Banff Art Centre Residency, Canada, 2016

Haven Foundation Assistance Grant, Stephen King, 2015

Gottlieb Foundation, Emergency Assistance, New York, NY, 2015

Artist Fellowship Inc., New York, NY, 2015

Change Inc., Captiva, FL, 2015

Cill Rialaig Residency, County Kerry, Ireland, 2014

Art Center South Florida Senior Residency awarded 2011-2014

Paul Fleck Fellowship, Holy Springs Collective, Banff, CA,  2010

Artist Enhancement Grant, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, 2008

Pollock-Krasner Fellowship, NY, NY, 2007-2008

Artist Access Grant, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, 2007

Paul Fleck Fellowship, Banff Art Centre Residency, Canada, 2006

Artist in Residence, South Florida Arts Center, 2005-2011

Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York, NY, 2002

Juror’s Choice, “Members Show” Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA, 2001

Juror’s Choice, “Small Works” Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA, 2001

Fellowship, Rhode Island Council on the Arts, 1999

Artist Project Grant, Rhode Island State Council for the Arts, 1998

“Sea Grant” University of RI, 1998

Fellowship, Rhode Island State Council for the Arts, 1993

Ludwig Vogelstein Fellowship, New York, NY, 1993

Fifth Year Traveling Scholarship, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, 1992

Design chosen to represent Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for Holiday greeting cards

Boit Competition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, 1st Place, 1992