Her exhibit
New Patterns at
The Tang Teaching Museum, in New York is open from January 28th to May 15th.
For those who may be just discovering now your craft and artistry, how would you describe it? Was it always clear that you wanted to dedicate yourself to the arts?
I grew up between Maine and New Mexico, but I’ve been a New Yorker for 20 years, and I live in Brooklyn. I was fortunate because being an artist was in my family. Recently, I heard an interview with composer Stephen Sondheim who shared: “Making forms provides solidity and creates order out of chaos.” That resonates with me.
Through my practice, I’m often exploring and updating established archetypes. For example, the historical trope of the portrait in the mirror is a common self-aggrandising gesture for a male painter. This would have been a way to elevate oneself and display prestige. In this exhibition, I placed the female figure —often the object— in that empowered position.
Taking a glance at the pieces of the exhibition, we can see a variety of interpretations of the female figure represented throughout the years, from childhood, motherhood and elderly age, either collectively or individually. What was the message you wanted to convey?
I’m thinking about the ways that women are unfairly represented: frozen, a solitary moment in time, a flawless thing. I’m including the other faces of our dimensional experience and allowing women to live.
