My paintings have often been described as ethereal and haunting. In an age of machine generated reproductions I have become obsessed with artifacts, specifically antique garments that embrace the importance of process and the human touch. I relate to the obsessive nature of embroidery, lace making and other forms of textiles once made by hand. These remnants of women’s handiwork possessed a beauty of process and attention to detail that is becoming vacant. As a painter I have found that the experience of creating something, the practice and repetition of a skill is as vital as the outcome. Jackson Pollock dripped and poured paint when creating paintings but insisted that there were no accidents in his work. His paintings are a product of instinctual movement, that although unconscious are an accumulation of painting using the same repetitive gestures. A dancer practices a move over and over again so the move becomes part of her in the same way a lace maker or artist becomes part of the piece created.

I paint lace obsessively. Each brush stroke is painted slowly and meticulously similarly to the way a lace maker might have created each stitch of her garment. My increased ability to sit, observe and paint relentlessly has lead to more complex paintings and insight into what thread is capable of communicating. My current paintings have started to unravel into grids and fragments of antique cloth. Very recently I have begun to use more color and staining in my work. The color and staining have offered a sense of release in the midst of tense, aggressive patterns.

My paintings can all be described as self-portraits. I paint remnants of lace to evoke the obsessive and neurotic attention to detail within me. I see lace as my skeleton or the way my brain functions. Through the process of creating a painting by hand, one brush stroke at a time I take with me the experience of each painting and become part of it. I view my work as an extension of myself. I view myself as gentle on the surface but emotionally and intellectually complex beneath.