My Journey so Far

My first memories of artmaking begin at the age of three or four. In kindergarten I spent my days in front of an easel, painting all day, next to a large window. At home, I painted, drew, and carved anything I could get my hands on. I have developed an almost obsessive need to create. It's a drive that has often kept me up at night and transports me while I go about my day.

Textures and color combinations have the ability to give me fluttering sensations. I feel excited, thrilled, and driven to explore. I am inspired by visual stimuli, but in fact, the creativity that inundates my mind, spirit, and body is itself driven by cerebral mechanics and existential concepts -mental constructs that elicit a need to create and express ephemeral images that I assemble, overlap, work, and rework internally, often sketching, scribbling, or writing myself notes along the way. My convoluted process, however, does not reflect in the final works, that strive for balance and simplicity.

In high school, I spent my spare time in the art room and turned a broom closet into a darkroom to try my hand at photography and playing with light and shadow. At art college, I was lucky to have been able to start in the Interdisciplinary program (before choosing a major became mandatory.) By the end, my degree stated a photography major, however, I had completed equally senior-level courses in printmaking, papermaking, and sculpture. I did some weaving but was unable to get into higher-level classes. I later did a curatorial internship class through U of T and the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) with textiles as the focus.

My Art Thesis project was an Installation piece that employed bookbinding, papermaking, photography, collage, and lighting skills. It was an illustration of my grandmother’s memories throughout her life.

After graduation from the Ontario College of Art and Design, in Toronto, Canada, I embarked on an academic adventure at the University of Toronto, where I received and Hons. B.A. in Art History and a minor in Medieval Studies. I developed curatorial expertise through my course at the ROM and later an internship at the University Art Center, a museum and gallery space within U of T. I was part of the Hart House Art Committee which actively toured and selected artworks to be purchased for the university’s permanent collection. After graduating I went on to curate a fine arts gallery in the Yorkville area of Toronto, and finally, I recently completed a with merit, Master’s Degree in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, England.

Diving into research inspires my creativity, it is this symbiotic relationship that propels my craft, concepts, and explorations forward.

The last piece is the fact that I became a mother, an experience that so deeply transformed me, that I feel as though I leaped up to another level that I never knew existed. From the cave to overlooking a ridge with vast expansive views of the world that stretches before me. It is exciting, terrifying, serenity, fulfillment, frustration, and accomplishment on a daily basis.

After my son was born I experienced some deeply tragic circumstances that gutted my life. I spent probably three years crying myself to sleep. However being a mother pushed me to rise above and I decided to not let myself drown. So I worked hard everyday to repair and recover my life. I guess you never really expect life to cut you off at the knees, but it happens. I feel deeply connected to whatever feminine spirit has been pushing me to get up everyday and be the best mother and artist that I can be and let the world back in to inspire and uplift me.

I learned to paint again, create again, be inspired again. I look to try and find my art community again. Although it takes time to rebuild and at times it feels overwhelming, it’s the only way to be for me. I don’t think I am me without art and creativity. So I have sown a new garden and am watching, hoping for it to bloom.

I am inspired by the movement of natural elements and the spirit of creativity that flows in all of us. I am grounded by nature, intrigued by history, dabble in scientific knowledge. I see colors when I close my eyes, and dream of painting those elusive thoughts, moments and the transcendental.

I hope that what has inspired me translates to paper, canvas, and screen, to then inspire and enrich you as well.