My recent work combines my research of romantic love (from blissful to toxic) with the metaphoric and photographic explorations of flowers, plants and animals combined with water. Reflections, light, movement, the surface or skin and the under of, can be seen all at once in a single moment in a body of water. Seeing all these views at once is bewildering, intriguing, exhilarating, provocative, captivating- the invitation to dive in is irresistible. For some, the unknown is too intense, for others, it’s the danger of the unknown that is the breadth of life.

Through the process of layering, scraping, excavating layers of encaustic and acrylic paint, I replicate nature’s destructive power as well as its regenerative abilities. Collaged fragments of found images act as another form of paint as well as trigger memory and create personal connections. Through the mark-making and painting process, the actual storied histories of the combined images is interwoven with my own personal experiences and imaginings about their history. As the painted and collaged layers accumulate, abstracted patterns begin to fuse, splinter and regenerate, acting as a metaphor for the volatility and vulnerability found in the relationships between earth and humankind and between humans themselves.