PAPYRUS
As a former pastry chef, precision and mastery were ingrained in every measured ingredient bringing each recipe to success. The making and sharing of food have been at the heart of my life’s purpose for most of my life, and my new project Papyrus is an extension of that. When I turned my artistic focus from food to photography over a decade ago, most people assumed I was going to photograph food. I did not, as I felt I had nothing to add to this overly flooded field. It was not until I acquired some fruit and vegetable papyrus that resonated with my current photogravure practice, did I see that I might have a unique view of food, and Papyrus is the result. Looking at fruits and vegetables that are so commonly known, in a unique and abstract way through the thin veil of its papery form appealed to me to make this work. Not unlike the science and artistry skills I’d acquired as a pastry chef, I embrace the meticulousness and craftmanship of photogravure. I believe it’s fine detail and tonal range, as well as it’s velvety texture pair well with the images of Papyrus.
I am currently using polymer photogravure plates to print Papyrus. They are printed as 5” x 5” prints, with an edition of 5.
BITTERSWEET
I am in a bittersweet time of life. My parents are in their last chapter, and I will be mourning the loss of them soon. At the same time, my children are creating new families of their own that includes a new chapter of joy for me. I am using forgotten objects and flowers as a metaphor for this time as they too have a bittersweet nature. In fresh bloom flowers and newly purchased items are brilliant and uplifting, and as they decay, they have another kind of beauty. My intention is to observe and bring attention to the beauty in the beginnings and the endings of life.
This is a current and ongoing project, 2022. Copperplate Photogravure
TIME PIECE
TIME PIECE is a study of vintage watches, inspired by the beauty and functional aspects of the mechanism. Long before the digital age of iPhones or the Apple watches, a hand-wound pocket or wristwatch was once a prized possession, a piece of jewelry that both men and women wore. Not only were watches functional by keeping us aware of the time, but they were also considered a thing of magnificence and status. My intention with these creative still lives, is to bring back a bit of beauty to these watches found in the dustbins of flea markets.
This is a current and ongoing project. Copperplate Photogravure printed, editioned.
HOME
During these past few years, the pandemic has infiltrated our lives and changed the landscape of our everyday movements and surroundings. As I spent most of last year in my home, I felt fortunate that I live in a house surrounded by trees and nature of all kinds. As my routines slowed down during the year, I began to pause to take in small details about my home environment more than I ever had before. Out my window I focused on the lime green moss on the oak trees, the lemon tree bursting of fruit, the cutting garden full of roses, the budding of my magnolias and dogwoods, and primarily the songbirds that entertained me daily. I’d wake in the morning to their chatter and watched them as they flirt and fight around the bird feeders. I marveled at their freedom to come and go as they pleased, whereas I felt isolated from my community. This gave me pause to think about my home, what that means, and how our home is uniquely ours.
Turning the structure over your head from a house into a home is essential for a healthy foundation for security, family, affection, and memories. No matter if your home is a house, an apartment, or a tent under the freeway, we use whatever resources we have, to make it distinctly our own. Using vintage birdcages for this project, I collected tree branches, and flowers from my yard to create unique homes for illustrated birds that in real life, became my friendly community. Being confined either by choice or by design, the birds are a metaphor for how I felt at times over this past year and a half. I was surrounded by natural splendor but had not fully appreciated the joy that came from the beauty, colors, and music surrounding my home.
Wherever you are, you make it your home.
For this series I have used the alternative processes Cyanotype over Platinum Palladium printing. There is a limited series of 5 each printed at 6” x 6”.
MEMORY KEEPERS
The autumn of life is often more complex in reality. It is a period of life filled with loss and awareness to the travails of growing old and the potential of mental illness. My project, Memory Keepers, examines these elements, as two of my family members are afflicted with dementia. I am not focusing on the painful loss of them, but rather on the fear of my own possible cognitive illness, and the inevitable isolation that coincides.
In my empty house where there once was shrieking laughter of children and a busy life, I often experience loneliness and solitude. I am apprehensive that these feelings and my occasional forgetfulness is a foreboding of what is to come. My intention with Memory Keepers is to document something of this vulnerable time by photographing personal objects that conjure up memories of a multitude of life experiences.
For this series I have used the alternative processes Cyanotype over Platinum Palladium printing to give these items the reverence they hold in my heart. Each handmade photograph mirrors the actual object and its memory. There is a limited series of 5 each, 4” x 4” or 4” x 6”.
IMPERMANENCE
Nothing is permanent. In an instant, our lives can change, often without us even noticing. The possessions we cherish may delight us in the moment, but their beauty is merely fleeting as demonstrated in the project Impermanence. Our home, our family, and our planet will all change or perish in time. Embracing this truth is challenging in a world that promises solutions for everything through, innovation, books, pills, or apps. Letting go of what we cannot control or predict in our life is not easy, but we can find beauty in the chaos.
These photographs stem from the aftermath of the devastating Tubbs wildfire in California (2017), where in minutes hundreds of lives were irrevocably altered. I captured the ruins and transformed these images into mysterious planetary-like spheres. They are meant to question what our world will look like as climate change threatens our very existence. The images are a metaphor for hope, finding beauty in the unknown, of a future where disaster might displace us and force us to adapt new realities. They challenge us to let go of the assumptions of our permanence and embrace impermanence, as we consider the world we will leave for future generations.
Archival giclée prints on Legacy Fibre, 13″ square, edition of 10. $500 for unframed print.
GENUINE BEAUTY
Since the beginning of time, the female form has been considered an object of beauty to be used as inspiration for literature, poetry, and works of art. My series, Genuine Beauty, continues this tradition with a new perspective, which includes the female gaze, where my consideration of beauty includes not only the physical but also the internal self. Photographing a woman in her most vulnerable state is not an act that includes notions of power; instead, I seek to reveal my subject’s interior experience of womanhood, as well as my own.
Inspired by works of Ruth Bernard, Edward Weston and others, I photograph as a way to look for hidden secrets, strengths, and insecurities. Every woman embodies genuine beauty if she is willing to reveal her true self and enigmas. During our time together, my model and I discuss our shared experiences as females and what we want to achieve visually; a kind of femme poetry. This introspection allows us to work more closely together with integrity. The result is a photograph that is at first, a reflection of my own beautiful and sometimes-fractured feminine experience, and perhaps a universal one.
Making handmade prints using alternative processes, Cyanotype over Platinum Palladium, my intention is to give reverence to the genuine beauty of women. My female gaze and act of photographing nude women is a mirror into my own psyche and understanding of what I find beautiful. This is a limited series of 5 each, 4” x 4” or 4” x 6”.