ARTIST STATEMENT

My work begins with curiosity. Slowing down and looking closely brings me joy, inspiration and wonder. Creating art out of my curiosity is how I live my visual life.

Growing up, the life of an artist was a mystery to me and my family expressed skepticism about the value of creativity. But my grandparents inspired me to be brave. They moved from Ireland to the US seeking something better, and their courage and ambition gave me the idea that I could embrace my curiosity and creativity. Without a lot of family support, I enrolled at the Institute of Design (the New Bauhaus) in Chicago for photography and graphic design. My first “ah-ha” moment happened in a photography darkroom when I disrupted the dye transfer process with a sheet of delicate washi paper. My abstracted still-life photo was my first “work of art” and opened a portal to my creative life. 

My professional life has included work as a graphic designer and product photographer supplemented with workshops in papermaking, printmaking, and drawing. I was able to intertwine my need to make a living with my creativity and in the process gain insight into how people come together to form groups that foster their creativity. After a long while, I began to understand that I was creating a visual life where my priority was to develop my own goals, dreams, and communities.

Photography is where I start creating by capturing moments that spark my curiosity and feel charged with possibility. A few years ago I discovered a kaleidoscope app and it became an exciting tool for abstracting my digital images. It added playfulness to a scene but with some structure and let me create art with images of nature’s actual colors and textures. 

The kaleidoscope images have also given me the ability to create repeat patterns that I then printed on fabric. Being able to generate yards of seamless patterns from a small digital file felt like an exciting cross-pollination of photography and fabric design. From there I began using my digital tools to distort the repeat patterns into something new and realized that I was returning to the excitement I felt making that first abstract image back in my college darkroom. The techniques, tools, and technology changed over time, but I’m on the same path of exploration and curiosity. 

I am excited that I can use the digital technologies I employed in my professional life to create my art. I send my art files to a digital printer who uses industry-leading machines and water-based, non-toxic pigment inks to print on fabric and wallpaper. I can choose from over 30 different fabrics and seven types of wallpaper depending on the nature of the project. I use many traditional fiber art techniques like stitching, dyeing, stiffening fabric, painting, and collaging to develop my pieces. Printing on fabric and wallpaper also allows me to explore scale in ways that are completely different from traditional photos printed on paper. 

I’ve also spent a lot of time making hand-made paper and pushing the traditional techniques by creating layers of paper and photo prints, coordinating colors and textures. I continue to take and print straight photography in color and black-and-white.

There is a through-line to my work. My instinct continues to create forms that are layered and personal. They represent my feelings and dreams over time. The process of slowing down and paying close attention is the same process I’ve utilized since I first decided to become an artist and live my visual life.