Prints > Because

Because it's never going to be acceptable again
Collagraph and stitching on paper
27x20"
2018
Because we can talk about this as a global problem
Collagraph and stitching on paper
20x16"
2018
$550
Because we can talk about this as a national problem
Collagraph and stitching on paper
28x20"
2018
$850
Because there is a rape every 6.2 minutes in the U.S.
Collagraph and stitching on paper
28x20"
2018
$850
Because we are free together, or slaves together
Collagraph and stitching on paper
26x19"
2018
$850
Because things are getting better, but the war isn’t over
Collagraph and stitching on paper
19x22"
2018
Because it’s everyone’s problem
Collagraph and stitching on paper
25x20"
2018
$850
Because we need new role models
Collagraph and stitching on paper
28x19"
2018
$850
Because we can talk about this as a personal problem
Collagraph and stitching on paper
29x19"
2017
Because it's never isolated
Collagraph and stitching on paper
18x18
2017
$550
Because it's your job to change it, and mine, and ours
Collagraph and stitching on paper
12x19
2018
Because no one declares a war on this kind of terror
Collagraph and stitching on paper
25x18"
2018
$850
Because violence is first of all authoritarian
Collagraph and stitching on paper
26x20"
2018
$850
Because we are all complicit
Collagraph and stitching on paper
19x18"
2017
Untitled, Orange Hands OR Because the pattern is plain as day
Collagraph and stitching on paper with vintage linen
27x19"
2013
Because there’s something about how masculinity is imagined
Collagraph and stitching on paper with vintage linen
30x22"
2013
$850
Because violence is one way to silence people
Collagraph and stitching on paper
30x21"
2013
$850

A collection of mixed-media collagraphs on paper


“The body keeps the score: If the memory of trauma is encoded in the viscera, in the heartbreaking and gut-wrenching emotions, in auto-immune disorders and skeletal/muscular problems, and if mind/brain/visceral communication is the royal road to emotional regulation, this demands a radical shift in our therapeutic assumptions.”
“Agency starts with what scientists call interoception, our awareness of our subtle sensory, body-based feelings: the greater that awareness, the greater our potential to control our lives. Knowing what we feel is the first step to knowing why we feel that way. If we are aware of the constant changes in our outer and inner environment, we can mobilize to manage them.”
- Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D., from The Body Keeps the Score

This body of work is a long-time coming, having evolved over the past four years. Although the actual resolution and completion of the collection of works seen here was greatly precipitated by a recent and surprising epiphany: that these are, at their heart, about violence. They are about the bodily experience of violence, the mental experience of violence, the transference of the ‘cycle of violence’, and healing from violence. After coming to terms with this realization, and accepting what it could mean to fully express this publicly, the pieces practically resolved themselves.

Visually, one sees that the paper is heavily embossed, patterned with a rich array of textures and colors that are in some cases harmonious, in others, discordant. Forms are sewn into the picture plane with a visible and decorative stitch. Fields of texture, which evoke both microscopic forms as well as topographical maps, envelope both foreground and background, resulting in a flattening of space that we cannot precisely relate to. The life-sized human forms, however – hands, arms, legs, torsos, heads – refuse to let the viewer distance themselves enough to remain unaffected. With titles inspired by Rebecca Solnit's essay 'Men Explain Things to Me', the works refuse to let viewers remain ambivalent.

We are all, to some degree, affected by violence. Bystanders, victims, perpetrators. Where does one end, and the other begin? I am the daughter of a survivor of sexual abuse. I have, as a child, suffered physical and emotional abuse. My oldest children have also suffered physical and mental abuse - by me. Recognizing oneself as a player in this cycle of abuse takes a great deal of support, healing, work, and sometimes, simply some dumb luck. From the beginning of my studies in art, my work has always been about the body. Nearly thirty years later, I may finally understand why.