Artist Statement:
I have always been intrigued by figures—their character and attitude. My early portraits, in pastel, ink, or graphite, convey an edgy moodiness, a sense of solitude or longing. In these figurative works I give form to an internal state of mind. Later I began to experiment with color and composition, adding metallic gouache to the paintings and cropping the figure to focus on a gesture or moment rather than the whole.
These drawings and gestures, taken from life, became the foundation for my abstract paintings. Comparing the figurative and abstract work can be informative. In the abstracts, you may find an echo of the figure in a line or shape. What was background in the portraits may become the subject of the abstract paintings: pure color, form, line, shape, texture. Sometimes the line brings out the figure; at other times, the line is meant to obscure the figure, drawing the viewer to other planes and images, offering alternate focal points as the light shifts during the day or night.
My sculptures continue this exploration of figuration. The early sculptures often explored the body from the inside: its bones and muscles. I often saw the female body composed of pear shapes: breasts, buttocks, belly. In my series “Pyriforma” these pears have become abstract, so that they evoke recurring female shapes, without being explicit.
In the series, “Sylph,” cloaked female figures suggest something elemental, open to multiple interpretations. In contrast to my drawings from life, these figures are mysterious, emerging as I stretch and shape the clay. They are essentially faceless, yet universal. There may be multiple figures or parts of the figure arising out of different planes.
These figures have evolved into two other series, Gaudeamus and Scripta. The cloaked figures in Gaudeamus come together to suggest a group of choristers or celebrants. The Scripta series features markings which add texture and dimension to the work. These sculptures are small, so that they can be held in the hand and felt
My latest series, Gyre of Life, continues the use of anonymous elemental figures to explore how we try and sometimes fail to connect with each other. These dynamic sculptures show multiple figures, separated yet attached, reaching out to one another. It isn't clear whether the figures are coming together or spiraling apart.
These figures are larger than my earlier works and incorporate more negative space, creating a dynamic sense of movement and line.
In all of my work, I use color and shape, line and gesture, to animate these figures and forms—to infuse them with the energy of life.
Education:
1987-99 Courses in life drawing, color and composition, pastels, and portrait painting at the College of Marin (Kentfield, CA), Dominican College (San Rafael, CA), and The Art School (Mill Valley, CA)
1973 M.A. Library Science, University of California, Berkeley
1970 B.A. English, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
Artist Tags:
abstract, figurative, metallic, abstract, colorist , contemporary
