Artist statement
My work is about the tension between the hard realities of life and possibilities for justice and transformation. Drawing on connections between myth, scripture, cave paintings and memory, I explore our liminal times. My art witnesses to the power of divine love to heal; the movement of the spirit; and the light in each of us, waiting to be released for wholeness for all creation. During the darkness of the coronavirus pandemic, which revealed great racial and economic injustices at home and abroad, I am focusing on where we can find hope and light.
Adventures to play “splash” with my granddaughter in nearby streams and rivers brought solace in nature. As a child, my mother clothed me in garments of her own making. Memories of this “love language” from a highly practical woman find expression in the joy I find in creating. The repetitive actions in my artistic process become a ritual that transforms pain, suffering and loss into new life.
Childhood National Park visits, service on the board of The Nature Conservancy, and becoming a second career pastor are the wellsprings of my artistic focus: spirituality, faith, bearing witness, remembering my parents, and engagement with nature all inform my creative process. A workshop at Penland School of Craft introduced me to the Korean paper manipulation process of Joomchi, a traditional way of combining mulberry paper and water to create a fabric-like paper. Tapestries and sculptures are new directions, as I experiment with larger works and “casting” three dimensional objects in Joomchi.
Splash at the Potomac River.
Prior to Covid-19, my art practice was grounded in making icons inspired by the Ethiopian tradition. In the religious world, icons are a window to the divine; they facilitate encounters with the living God.
I am particularly drawn to healing icons, which use patterns (much like meditation coloring books) to create a sense of order and peace in the midst of chaotic and unsettled times. With so much violence in the world, and with so much to de-center people, healing icons speak to our need for spiritual grounding.
I love paper: The tactile experience of creating art with paper reminds me of watching my mother cut fabric on the dining room table as she made clothes for her three daughters. My love of paper grew from creating elaborate present wrappings at Christmas to inventing my process for making icons using cut paper. In 2018, I began incorporating Joomchi into my icon-making practice. Joomchi is a traditional Korean paper manipulation process which uses mulberry paper. My hope for my art is to employ these traditional arts in a new way that provides healing and hope to people in need of spiritual centering.