Anomalies

 Art & Antiques magazine wrote that these works, “…built up from white lines on a black field, are intricate and dazzling, as if Op Art were blended with astrophysics,” adding, “Abstract as it is, her work relates to current social and political realities insofar as it illuminates the dichotomy of instability and resilience.” [September issue, p. 23]

My “Anomalies” series connects art, science, and personal experience, relating to concerns of structural/systemic instability and resilience. Irregularities occur in both natural and constructed systems, with much of life hinging on anomalies that some would consider flaws. Facing mass extinctions, social inequity, teetering democracy, and a ravaging pandemic, anomalies offer me clues for contending with systems that verge on widespread cataclysm.

Geometry and patterns figure largely in our interpretation of the universe through our senses, science, and cultures, and I’m intrigued by their appearance in everyday life: clothing, buildings, infrastructure, technology, and the nature and creatures found in every place. Working mostly with ink, paint and paper, I apply systematic structures and layering to look at tolerance thresholds for nonconformity or corruption, noting how the mind selectively filters information when seeking authenticity and meaning. Using abstract terms to view the continuum of our connections with each other and the natural world helps me better understand our vulnerabilities and to figure out ways I can respond more meaningfully.

My methods are of inconspicuous beginnings, an orderly accrual of incidentals, intrusions and inklings. Reflection on death is inextricably bound to any scrutiny of life, and I make use of repetition to divide and examine cryptic wholes. Patterns of growth—of cells, bodies, families, our universe—remain enigmatic, with erratic variables and forces tenaciously subverting neat schemata. Evidence of physical processes recalls nature, affirming my need to touch and mess with my own hands – my body as foil to a dispassionate ideal. This language of curiosity and my desire to recognize connections where I had barely sensed they existed is one of the most joyful aspects of what I do, a love letter to all who puzzle over our interconnected existence.

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