As an artist and wildlife biologist, I work to find plants, lichens, algae, and fungi from which pigments can be extracted and apply these to surfaces on which I then create drawings in ballpoint pen. I investigate death, decay, growth, and the parallels I see between the exploitation of both the natural world and female bodies. Specifically, I’m fascinated by the otherness of my own body after experiencing the trauma of being abducted, held against my will and sexually assaulted by a stranger while traveling abroad. I exist in two spaces: one in which I am found and safe and the other in which a part of my brain and body is still missing. I often still live my life like a missing person in a state of animal-like hypervigilance, returning to these events repeatedly in both my mind and my art, trying to make myself and other people believe that what I’m saying is true. The horror of this revisiting is extreme and I cope with this by comforting my figures with things that make me feel safe: animals, plants, and all elements of the natural world. I embrace two aesthetics: one of uneasiness, uncertainty, and dread and the other of reassurance, wonderment, and hope.

Being able to contextualize this work in relation to scholarly discourse is an important facet of my practice and I continue to delve into the writings of Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray, Simone de Beauvoir, Melanie Klein, Judith Butler, Mira Schor, Ernest Becker, Betty Friedan, and Alexandra Kokoli. Similarly, I take inspiration other artists including Kiki Smith, Marlene Dumas, Manuel Neri, Kathe Kollwitz, Annette Messager, Nancy Spero, Jenny Saville, Ana Mendieta, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Claudy Jongstra, Vanessa Barragão, Wangechi Mutu, Alexandra Kehayoglou, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Alina Szapocznikow, Jennifer Packer and many others. Citing those who came before me and appreciating the diversity and value they bring to the field of art is critical, especially as I occupy a space of privilege as a white, able-bodied, heterosexual, cis-gender female. Equally important to my practice is using this privilege to work as both artist and educator to make art more accessible and inclusive.