Artist Talk:

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I was inspired by my grandmother who was a hobby painter and by classes I took at a local art museum as a child. Sometimes I think a vocation like making art chooses you. I am first inspired by observations while walking or traveling and make sketches on walks and trips to work from. I am researching ancient matriarchal societies and mythologies surrounding powerful women. I see medusa from greek mythology for example as a metaphor for society’s curse on women to juggle so many roles and expectations at once.

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I see fruit as symbolic in many ways as a reference to the story of adam and eve, and a fresh start after a bitter pandemic. I have been collecting objects and cloths with fruit patterns on them to paint from. I want to present archetypes of strong women - characters that question societal gender roles. I see Grandma Walking at Dawn as a painting about triumph and perseverance. Sophie Menade who is a character in some of the paintings is a wise storyteller from Monique Whittig’s French feminist 1969 novel “Les Guérillères”. As in the paintings she recombines symbols and mythological stories in new ways to tell a new story of a matriarchal society.

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I am really excited to have my work on view in Shanghai alongside so many great artists in a space run and curated by a creative woman gallerist. I visited Shanghai 3 years ago and found it to be inspirational: as a place that is at once futuristic feeling (imagining the future is the first step to imagining a better future) and full of wonderful contemporary art in museums and galleries. I remember a building sign that read “Dream Big you are in Shanghai” and love the idea that it’s a place where dreams become a reality.