My paintings are about my personal story. They are narrative and diaristic. I paint the real, imagined, and dreamt. I paint about the places I have lived, about being a mother, and about my family past and present.

While I had been painting and drawing since childhood, I began photographing myself soon after I discovered the self-portraits of my great great grandfather, a turn of the century hobbyist photographer and ventriloquist. He humorously explored issues of identity while simultaneously poking a bit of fun at himself. He was straddling two worlds unbeknownst to many. He was half Native American. He became a strong influence in my own search for identity and to honor him I choose to explore his, and studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While most of the studio classes taught at the Institute were similar to that of any art school, they were taught by mostly Native instructors and emphasized expression, use of materials, and personal story rather than formal issues. My experience there, the land, the place, and the few people I grew close to, had a huge impact on my work and ideas.

Soon after I became interested in Rauschenberg and Hannah Hoch and began playing with a variety of three-dimensional materials. At Moore College of Art I focused primarily on collage and photo transfer while continuing with the identity self-portraits. I began trying to create a sort of stylistic surrealism by combining the photo-based imagery and the hand painted. Together they would create a unique environment of the expected fused with surprise. Geometric patterns and elements, referencing movement and direction, crept into paintings to further this feeling.

The idea of transformation as a result of evolution and decay was also significant. I've always been fascinated with dilapidated buildings, layered billboards, and old frescoes. As the man made interacts with the environment over a period of time it takes on a weathered quality that I've always found more beautiful because of its imperfections. Things beneath the surface are revealed; layers of paint, the underlying structures, and as a result some of the surface becomes obscured.

Today in my studio, there is always a collection of photos, zeroxes, magazines, bits of paper, small objects, and blocks of wood. From these, the skeletal structure of a painting is begun and gradually fleshed out with paint and other materials. Working in a layered way, the paint and collage are removed with a razor blade and sandpaper as much as they are applied. Today I can still see the early influences of my first loves Frida Kahlo and Paul Gaugain, as well as my newer crushes Antonio Garcia Lopez and Kerry James Marshall. I can see the effects of my two girls, my landscapes have become idyllic and teletubbyish. I am still exploring identity.