artist statement

My work holds in tension beauty and environmental degradation. I find ​inspiration for my contemporary prints from organic forms and natural landscapes, but I’m equally inspired by environmental narratives of climate change. 

 

My art communicates the urgency of climate change, and the negative effects it has on human communities and natural ecosystems. In my work, I apply forms and vibrant colors directly from maps of recent climate research and I then layer this with organic imagery found in nature. I believe this tension in my art– between beautiful natural forms and the distortions of them relating to the science of climate change – is a powerful tool to impact a viewer. 

 

For example, “Retreat,” a mixed media print, reflects on increasing glacial retreat. Blue hues of a glacier on tracing paper were peeled away to reveal the red ink of melting forms, which were inspired by maps of historical glacier retreat. In the woodcut print “Drought,” sagebrush and rolling plains are a more traditional landscape, but the glowing red silhouette represents the current drought looming over the west. 

 

I frequently use linoleum, woodcut, and intaglio printmaking. These different techniques empower me to layer color and form, which enhances the concepts of the work I print, layering visual inspiration from the natural and scientific worlds. 

 

My most recent works center themes of water; rather the lack thereof or invisible pollutants. In “Below the Surface'' there is a river-like flow in the linework, while red undertones represent an element of toxic water. In “Pebble” and “Effluence” the bold colors coupled with flowing forms highlight downstream relationships of how pollution is transferred. 

 

Our warming climate and the inequities already experienced by these changes are incredibly discouraging. By creating colorful vibrancy and dynamic forms in my art, I strive to hold creative space for these issues, and hope to inspire deeper thought, empowerment, and action within the viewer.