Artist’s Statement
My work is inspired by both my experiences as an educator and by my life having lived in a diversity of environments, from living in one of the world’s most richly structured urban environments, New York City, to some of the more remote, like working on a small farm in Sicily or river guide in Western Idaho. These urban and rural inhabitants– the passerby, the lonely, the couple, the stranger, the child, the family, the everyday pedestrian— embody the emotional content that inspires my work. I find the experiences of interacting and observing with these people the source of my artistic inspiration.
For 12 years in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco schools, my life as a K-8 head teacher greatly impacted my work as an artist. By consciously creating and participating in an intentional community, the elementary school and middle school classroom, with all of the intricacies of life, such as the positive, the painful, the aspirations and intentions of every day moments, has helped me to see the world outside of this contained milieu. I strive to recognize these moments, creatively exploiting these details that make up our lives, capturing the variation of human diversity.
Using the mediums of public art and performance, photography, film and video and writing, I have created a body of work that reflects this participation in and celebration of different aspects of our culture. It highlights the intersection of these individuals within society, which prominently features the texture of our communities: the uneven, unpredictable mix of experience and personality that defines the nature of my art, which afterwards, is accessible to all, no matter their habitat.