Q & A

Q. What themes do you confront in your art?

A. I focus on the societal pressure that women feel to be perfect. And the conflict I feel as I attempt to resist the onslaught of media messaging, while simultaneously caving to fashion, diet and anti-aging trends.  I also like to play with the ways in which our external presentation to the world coexists with our messier internal lives.  

Q. Why do you choose to focus on the female form?

A.The female forms in my work represent the push-pull of perfection vs. acceptance that I, and many women, feel. Silhouettes are often idealized trim bodies, yet stripped of perfection through deconstructed faces, clothing and backgrounds. 

Q. The women in your pieces have a sense of anonymity with bare faces. Are their identities intentionally hidden?

A. I’m not intentionally hiding their identities. I am more interested in creating a “universal” woman. My hope is for the viewer to identify in some way with the figure and the materials - and be curious about her. What’s she thinking about? Is she comfortable in her skin? 

Q. What is your process?

A. My process is one of collage and decollage. Building up layers of found papers and tearing them back. An excavation process to unearth what lies beneath the surface. I describe my process as “painting with paper.”  

Q. What materials do you most like to work with?

A. My work is largely material driven; series are often built from materials that I find on my travels. I am deeply attracted to found and vintage papers - their textures, history and unique patinas. 

Q. Where do you find your materials?

A. Everywhere! Most of the materials I use are found on the street, at garage sales and antique fairs. Most recently, I have been working with layers of expired billboard ads that I peel off walls in NY, LA + Paris. This began when I was on a trip to Prague. I saw two trashmen pulling billboard papers off the side of a building. The men couldn’t speak English, so through hand gestures I allayed their confusion while filling bags to take home. 

Q. Where do you find the silhouettes?

A. I search for silhouettes and poses everywhere – on billboards, red carpet photos, images of fashion runway shows and from self portraits. I take actual photos and transpose them into line drawings, and those become the forms.

Q. How many layers are on each piece?

A. Each piece is built with many layers of paper.  I glue down up to six layers before I cut into them to reveal the female form. When I pull back the outline of the woman, I am always surprised by what is unearthed under the many layers.