Artist Statement
I am a visual storyteller who is captivated by light - how it defines a gesture, falls on the floor in patterns through a curtain, illuminates something hidden in the woods. Through photography, photomontage and abstract acrylic painting, I seek to translate what catches my attention into something deeper that resonates with you emotionally and pleases your eye.
When you look at my work, I hope that you are able to slow down and look within to encounter an emotion, ask a deeper question or explore a subconscious memory.
My photography and photomontage engages you in allegory. The images offer visual clues that encourage you to create your own story, contemplate your own experience, and answer your own questions. My goal is to offer images without dictating meaning, to transport you to a place where fantasy and reality merge into a cohesive story of your own design.
In my former life, I was a successful portrait photographer for 35 years in Chapel Hill. I strived to create beautiful, timeless images and felt honored to be trusted with recording special moments in the lives of my clients. I received my BFA in Painting from UNC-CH, and have studied with the master photographers such as Joyce Wilson and Jay Stock. I have been the recipient of numerous awards through both state and national professional photographers associations, including the Kodak Gallery Award.
More recently, I have focused on honing my craft and exploring the deeper realms of my own imagination, from which my most authentic expression emerges through my photomontage.
Process Statement
This body of work, like complex fragments of dreams remembered and forgotten again, weaves images from daily life and past experiences together into a new memory, myth or allegory that resembles, but is distinct from what existed before.
Photomontage allows me to create visual narratives that draw me into mysterious and alluring spaces. It is a way to frame deep feelings, giving the viewer a unique opportunity to identify and find meaning in the images that evoke their own memory and experience.
Sometimes I work with a preconceived idea or have an allegory or a metaphor in mind which I illustrate by combining images I have previously captured to help me convey that thought. Other times a new narrative is inspired by chance as I capture new images. I purposely leave the titles short and ambiguous to engage the viewer in their own story or childhood memory thereby allowing many different endings or scenarios for each image. My work often draws inspiration from the romantic figures of the Pre-Raphaelites like J.W. Waterhouse and Lawrence Alma-Tadema or even the mythological landscapes of Maxfield Parrish.
In my earliest darkroom experiences I used multiple enlargers and negatives, selectively burning and dodging the light coming through the enlarger lens to challenge what was real and what was perceived. Today I use digital darkroom tools to combine and overlay images, working in monotones and adding layers of texture to capture the nebulous shadow world of dreams. Captivated by the artistry of illustrators from early 20th century children’s books like Arthur Rackham and intrigued by drawings from the 17th and 18th century by artists like William Blake, I try to emulate the warm graphic quality of their tonal range.
The limited edition photographs are printed on InkPress Warm Tone Baryta paper using an Epson ink jet printer and produced in dark sepia tones. They are on 13x19 or 17x22 inch paper, displayed in an ivory mat, and framed in a burnished gold wood frame to give them a vintage appearance.
I have been fascinated with metaphors and myths from a young age. My father used to read Grimm’s fairy tales to me at bedtime, opening up a world full of magical places with unlimited possibilities.
I earned a BFA in Painting from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and studied with Master Photographers Joyce Wilson and Jay Stock. I have received numerous awards for photography from state and national professional associations, including the Kodak Gallery Award.
As a successful portrait photographer in Chapel Hill for 35 year, I felt honored to capture special moments for my clients during that time.
In recent years, my work has become an outlet through which I am able to translate images that trigger my imagination into resonant works of art through photography, photomontage and abstract acrylic painting.
This process of self-discovery allows me to encounter emotions, ask deep questions and explore subconscious memories. I enjoy working in the studio at my home in Chapel Hill, where I live with my husband and cat.
