STATEMENT OF WORK

My artistic praxis is at once deeply personal and universal. It is an evolving process through which I probe themes of nonduality, impermanence, presence, alchemy and immanence. For me, art is a physical form of reflection, like prayer or meditation. Informed by Buddhist and Jewish concepts and Christian imagery, I have created my own visual language for the tender intensity that emerges when the tactile and the spiritual coalesce. 

Utilizing the body as a vessel of connection (to each other, nature and The Divine) is central in my work. By tracing the journey from separation back to connection, I explore tensions between empathy and disconnection, beauty and suffering. Hands, feet and backs as sensitive portals of energy in the body are recurring subjects in my work. I deconstruct the body and build it back together in a rich, allusive language. Emulating a memory of the body & its fragility; trying to find the fine line that holds it together but still vibrates with the parts. I am using tattoos as a tribal symbol of belonging; an intentional breaking and permanently marking into the skin. A ceremonial passage & a visceral reminder; holding a collective yet personal message to oneself. These complex tessellations, echoing sacred Persian motifs and natural forms, are created with rich, fluid layers of paint. By applying the materiality and fluidity of the paint to move forms into and out of tangible presence, I reflect on worldwide rituals of washing as a spiritual purification. I employ mirroring, symmetry and repetition as an anchor. Painting in a large-scale format allows me to envelope the viewer, saturate their field of vision and offer a feeling of submerging with the work. 

My sculptures address connection through time and space, standing as ritualistic prayer objects. They are portraits as trans-historical artifacts, indicating that our features are sacred living archives of the eternal connections that survive through us. I am interested in the melting point, the heart opening point, that dissolve the line between the self and other. Through my art, I establish not only a bridge home to myself, but a sacred offering to others who also desire to open themselves to more connection, human and divine.