PROCESS
My mixed media pieces are constructed from thousands of photographs I have taken all over the world. Armed with my camera and my imagination, I explore both urban environments and natural ones, hunting for objects that pique my interest, and in photoshop, painstakingly silhouette, disassemble and reassemble the parts to create new configurations and sculptural forms that elevate the ordinary every day to the extraordinary and otherworldly.
In tandem with this process, I set up photoshoots of women in the midst of embodying their most expressive, authentic and powerful selves, and digitally composite them into ethereal realms created via a meticulous process of arranging and modifying the elements until I am satisfied with the composition (which can take hours, weeks or months). I then transfer these digital images to the analog world by scaling, printing, cutting, pasting, and painting on wood panels.
Using AfterEffects, I revisit the digital iteration and hand-animate the elements to reveal an even richer narrative full of wonder, surprise and hidden meaning visible only by looking at the painting through an augmented reality app called Artivive. There’s an underlying spiritual message behind every piece I create, and this new technology allows me to communicate complex ideas and emotions that simply cannot not be conveyed in the still image alone. From start to finish, a piece can take 200-400 hours of work.
My work is distinctly and powerfully feminine, and my ultimate goal in creating this work is to remind us that the true magnificence and potential of the human being can only be fully expressed when the denigrated and suppressed feminine is finally allowed to take its rightful place as the equal and necessary counterpoint to the masculine. By restoring the balance between Yin and Yang and working with rather than against nature, we can begin to heal ourselves and our planet. This art is my highest hope for humanity, expressed in a visual language I created by actively participating in collective joy, intuitive flow, creativity and love.
“Our thoughts, feelings, processes, and unconscious beliefs have an energy that is hidden in the work. This unseen, unmeasurable force gives each piece its magnetism.”
THE INSPIRATION
A piece usually reveals itself to me through one of two doors.
Through door number 1, I meet a woman and feel an immediate energetic resonance that goes beyond words. Almost 100% of the time, within minutes of speaking with her, I find out she’s an energy worker or intuitive healer. It’s then up to me to discover the visual message or story that wants to be conveyed through her and only her.
Through door number 2, it happens in reverse. I’m introduced to a word, phrase, or spiritual concept that immediately conjures a vision in my mind. I may see the piece in its entirety or just a hint of what it could be, but my job is to find the right subject to “cast” for the lead role of the story the wants to be told.
Regardless of the way an idea chooses to enter my consciousness, I find the process of discovery to be extremely psychic and synchronistic. Each of my pieces has a magical story behind it, and the act of creating the work fosters deep connections with my subjects while also helping me to unearth knowledge and wisdom that lies buried deep within my own psyche.
THE photoshoot
I arrive on set with my green screen, my photo equipment, outfit choices, props, and an open heart and mind. Sometimes I get lucky and begin with a clear and precise concept. But other times, I get even more lucky and have no idea what is going to happen. I might ask a model to move in a particular way and I just know to keep going in that direction. I can only describe this knowing as a full body YES in all my cells that makes me feel totally at peace. This is when the real magic unfolds.
With Victory, we knew we wanted to create a piece that represented the birth of the universe… no small ask. The human living her earthly life is only an avatar of her higher self that exists in the cosmic plane and I had to somehow tell that story in a singular image and a 30 second movie.
For this piece, I had the idea to paint parts of Victory’s body in order to remove them in the post production process. I wanted her body to appear part human, part machine, and I’d never tried this technique before so I could only hope it would have the desired outcome. We shot all different kinds of body movements, some more fluid and other more robotic. It took two full days of shooting to land on the final imagery.
THE composition
When the photoshoot is complete, I mine my images to find the most beautiful expressions, body positions and movements.
Out of all the poses I tried, this one felt the most powerful. In your body, the right side harnesses your masculine energy in your life, while the left side harnesses the feminine energy. In action, the masculine side of the body is the one that gives, while the feminine side of the body is the one that receives. In this pose, Victory embodies grounded balance. In her empty hands, I created a crystal tool that I sometimes envision in my mind when I’m doing reiki on others. It can direct the flow of energy with its pointed tip, but can also pierce and be used in defense.
In this piece entitled AVISTAR, I chose to use Midjourney to help me create all the animal and plant elements that encompass her clothing/armor. I wanted her to exist as an amalgamation of all of creation, and what better tool to use to create these elements than one that draws from all of human creation to output its material?
To create a physical piece, I print out the digital image, cut it into pieces and paste it onto a wood panel. I then paint in the background. Once that’s complete, I can begin the animation, as this image acts as the first frame of the movie I will be creating and the one I build the whole story around.
Developing the animation is a magical process of discovery that helps me find out what the the piece is truly about. Sometimes I’m completely in the dark about how an animation will unfold, but I allow the positioning of elements and footage I’ve captured to dictate the story. I enter a flow state and am often absorbed for hours on end, lost in the world that’s materializing in front of my eyes.
THE ANIMATION
Years ago, when this work was in its infancy, a man I’d met offered to animate they pieces for virtual reality. I was so excited about this prospect, but when I reached out to him multiple times to continue the conversation, he dropped off the map and I never heard from him again. Even though I had reached what felt like an impasse, the seed was planted and I started to wonder if I had it within me to create a story in a new medium with which I had no experience and felt quite intimated by.
I saw augmented reality for the first time in 2018 and was immediately captivated by the possibilities. I finally decided to give it a try. I taught myself how to animate in 3 days and because I had no idea what I was doing, I was able to develop a very distinct animation style that was wholly my own and matched the meticulous care I put into the creation of the still image. (I’m so grateful that guy ghosted me). My movies are 10-30 seconds long, and take up to a full week to create. I shoot, animate and edit everything myself. Then I upload my videos to the Artivive app which places my movies over the still image in real time.
While the still pieces are impactful and stand alone, the animations reveal the world within the world. And using technology, specifically a smart phone, to engender a sense of presence in the viewer, is an unexpected departure from what is more commonly a source of anxiety and information overwhelm.
In AVISTAR, the goddess gives birth to herself again and again, discovering her true nature as she cycles through lifetimes, but always comes home to the eternal state of oneness with all of creation. She is the creator and the created. A magnificent machine constantly learning, evolving, and expanding.