Everything is connected - to the land, to our journeys, and to each other - and the connection is the beauty. 

Artist Statement

My work is a constant search for the intersection between belief and fact, the spiritual and the scientific. It is here that humans can find a type of truth that takes us beyond our limiting beliefs and fears, and into new worlds. I see less lines between factual and mythical than perhaps I should as a science teacher, but teaching children has shown me that imagination can be a key ingredient to understanding some of the unbelievable facts of how our universe works. Or, as Madeleine L’Engle once said, “It is...through the world of the imagination which takes us beyond the restrictions of provable fact, that we touch the hem of truth.”

Alterations to the earth never cease. Human activity is continual. Biological and chemical processes and shifting tectonic plates do not take time off. Change is inevitable. Particles constantly vibrate. Information and data are beautiful. Patterns are everywhere. These are the beliefs and facts that influence my creative work. 

It is by drawing attention to the aesthetic beauty of scientific data, migration patterns, geological processes, and the scars of highways across the land that I am working towards pushing the viewers outside of their own immediate concerns to see the literal bigger picture of this interconnected universe we dwell in. It is by pushing those viewers to consider parallels between hard science and ley lines, astrology and sacred geometry, that I ask us all to consider the impossible, leave open a door for the miracle, and let go of needing to place everything in a neat box. 

The materials I use are primarily natural -- beeswax, resin, earth pigments, thread, fabric, paper -- and the processes of application are highly physical and technical. I brush on, scrape off, melt down, pour, and layer with the occasional metal object and stitching. Encaustic allows me to mimic weathering processes and create texture in the work. My intentions and my medium work together in these ways.

Albert Einstein believed that he could find the unifying factor of all forces, or a theory of everything. Some say math is the language of the gods. Pop culture continues to come back to ideas of connections in the universe and imagining deep space. I am inspired by these ideas and legacies -- inspired to create and visualize the intangible connections of unseen movements and inevitable change.

CV

Education

2006
MEd (Secondary Education)
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Noyce Scholar

2005
BS (Resource Economics and Plant & Soil Science)
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Summa Cum Laude / Chancellor’s Outstanding Community Service Award

Residency

2011
La Fragua, Belalcázar, Cordoba, Spain

Selected Exhibitions

2017
West Coast Topography, Atelier, Truckee, CA

2016
New Work, Hub Riverside, Reno, NV

2014
Confluence, Oxbow Gallery, Northampton, MA

2013
Ten, Artstream Gallery, Dover, NH
Guest Artist, Sunderland Public Library, Sunderland, MA
Small Works, Easthampton City Arts+, Easthampton, MA
Recent Works, Easthampton Arts Walk, Easthampton, MA

2012
International Juried Exhibition, IEA EncaustiCon, San Antonio, TX
Home From Spain, The Whoo Space, Northampton, MA
Under The Influence, Jamaica Plain Arts Council, Boston, MA

2011
Exposure, Ceres Gallery, New York, NY
Square Foot Art Basel Miami, Projects Gallery, Miami, FL
Casa, La Fragua Artist Residency, Córdoba, Spain
Home, Easthampton Arts Walk, Easthampton, MA

Art Teaching Experience

2015-Current
Semi-Monthly Workshops, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV
Weekend Workshops, Atelier, Truckee, CA
Summer School Art Classes, Sage Ridge School, Reno, NV

2014
Weekend Workshops, Queen’s Ink, Savage, MD
Weekend Workshops, Charity Wings, San Marcos, CA

2013    
Saturday Workshops, Artstream, Dover, NH
Evening Workshops, Charity Wings, San Marcos, CA
Weekend Workshop, Crescendoh, Santa Ana, CA
Personal Studio Workshops, Easthampton, MA

2012  
Art Retreat, EncaustiCamp, Salem, OR
Weekend Workshop, Teahouse Studio, Berkeley, CA
Personal Studio Workshops, Easthampton, MA

Related Employment

2014-Current
Science Teacher, Sage Ridge School, Reno, NV

  • Designs curriculum for and teaches 5th Science, 6th Science, and Computer Programming. 
  • Engages students through art making, long-term scientific research, and acting out science concepts. 
  • Teaches art classes during mini-semester classes during intersession.
  • Leads weekly Art Club.

2011-2013
Seek Your Course, Founder

  • Designed and launched a dynamic online platform for listing art classes worldwide.   
  • Conducted a three month road trip around the USA and Canada running free art-making events in 39 cities in 2012.

2013-2014 and 2006-2011     
Science Teacher, West Springfield Middle School, West Springfield, Massachusetts

  • Used filmmaking, drama, art, technology, laboratory investigations, a year-long schoolyard ecology research project, and other inquiry-based activities to engage students and encourage exploration.
  • Secured over $3500 in grant funding for classroom technologies (including a SmartBoard, digital miniDV camcorder, and ELMO document camera).