My ‘Soul-Scape’ paintings are about the spiritual connection found in natural beauty. I am inspired by using various mediums and techniques; thus I work in mixed media; which includes collage materials I’ve collected over many years, acrylic paint or watercolor and drawing materials, water-soluble materials, and sometimes oil stick and encaustic. I approach my studio practice with curiosity and discovery, with a beginner’s mind, I play, fully immersed in the moment. Starting from a sense of wonder and arriving at one as well. Ultimately, I am working to keep alive hope and a playful spirit in myself, and the result remains a mystery as to how the work is received. I ask myself; what colors feel good in my body?” “What kind of marks give me the most energy?” “What is my soul longing to set free? I view my art practice as a way to understand the world, a way to creatively filter and reconfigure it. It’s the unknown that I’m drawn to. I am infinitely drawn to the possibility of bringing the mystery into the light, through the art-making process. Working in mixed media lends itself to creating a visceral world made with multiple layers, an approach that imbues the work with meaning through storytelling and the passing of time in the process. The layering process acts as a metaphor for the depth of the unconscious. I am interested in the macrocosms and microcosms of nature, the folds of mushrooms, the ecosystems under the ocean, and the continuous pattern that runs consistently in the shapes and lines of different forms throughout nature. As a human being who is part of nature, one experiences a sense of purpose and belonging in the grand scheme of nature’s design and patterning. A sense of order out of chaos and chaos again out of order can be experienced in these works. The resolve is the painting, a psychological topography moving from despair to hope, darkness to light. As a former art therapist, the conversation between Art and healing is important to me; I believe in the healing process created in the experience of making art. The art-making process allows me to step into that healing flow of the mind and space and respond to natural beauty. The result is the works; ‘Soul-Scapes’; entry windows into the soul, analogous to how icons were depicted as entry points into heaven.
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