Roots & Nests

Being a mother is a huge part of my self-identity, both as a human and as an artist. My studio is in my house, and my children run in and out constantly. The sound of their laughter and of their tears makes its way into my work consistently. In 2009, I began a project that explores my family through the visual metaphors of roots and nests: roots being symbols of the family and places from which I’ve come, nests being symbols of the life and home that I am seeking to create. It is, essentially, the exploration of an identity of myself within the context of other people and places, past and present. The images in this project are constructed and photographed using a flatbed scanner. The prints are broken up, and brought back together in a grid of square wooden panels. I am interested in how an organic line is broken by a geometric edge, then continued, as the viewer’s eye attempts to complete the image. The prints are then layered with encaustic wax. Each layer of encaustic is painted delicately over the image, building up the surface slowly. With this, I hope to create a sense of a protective layer around the ideas of family and home, almost like encased precious objects. I attribute this to the need to express my maternal instincts and desire to protect my family, my nest, in a visual way.