Traverses

In my recent solo show, Traverses at Diablo Valley College Art Gallery in Northern California, I invite viewers to journey with me through the challenges I've faced, including the pandemic, divorce, and childhood trauma. The collection features landscape videos, body cast sculptures, photographic prints, and sculptural paintings that celebrate queer and maternal identities. 

Amid current tensions in the country, this summer, I shifted my focus away from overt politics. I delved into a more lyrical space, creating new pieces for my show that intertwine my mythology, childhood memories, and celestial themes through the lens of Jungian archetypes and fairy tales. The photographs depict warped trees surrounding a figure poised to step onto a bridge. Another holds a rose-colored forest centered on a person, like a candle wick. The uncertainties of the pandemic are symbolized in fantastical swirls. My time in nature nurtures resilience and an appreciation for beauty. I capture themes of confinement, liberation, and ethereal qualities. Through my altered representations with the 360 camera, I reflect my concern for the queer/non-binary AFAB community and the importance of preserving nature and embodied belonging.  

The body casts represent collective and archetypal imagery, serving as stand-ins for memories and emotions. I transform these casts, featuring a woman with raised fists, a circle of guardian mothers, and a figure in prayer, into paintings and sculptures using wool, gesso, and oil pigments. I emphasize the plaster's textures to reveal details of skin, wrappings, and sutures.