Woven Strangers Fall 2020 Collection

9/22/20: "Woven Strangers"

The naturalist John Burroughs writes: “All life asks is opportunity; it takes its chances in the clash of opposing forces; it loses at one point and gains at another; the hazards of time and change modify it; hindering it or helping it, but do not extinguish it.”

Over the course of my career, art has always been a place where I have narrated my life and has naturally been the language used to interpret my story. This has translated in many forms; through watercolors during the birth of my children, through acrylic during some health issues, through wood with the layers of our experiences, and even through ballpoint pen through the loss of my brother. I tackle the ideas of barriers, separation, human experience, and my own character. The act of creating something from nothing is a remarkable tool, which can be used to heal and to understand the deeper sea of our own minds. It is a place I find sanctuary, peace, reflection, and often clarity.

In June of 2019, I received a life saving double lung transplant at Duke University. This body of work, Woven Strangers, is a direct reflection of my experience with the surgery and my healing that followed afterwards. These pieces were not born together, they were cut and sewn together. They exist separate yet bound together in a beautiful dance. Colors cover elements of a piece's past and weave new movement and marks made.

I am deeply thankful for the life that was donated to me. This body of work is meant to reflect the spectacular joy and gratitude I feel every day.