I am a visual artist working in two and three-dimensional media. Presently, I am creating a series of drawings entitled Angels Among Us. A simultaneous sense of loss and beauty motivates this work. Through an improvisational mark-making process, I am interested in tapping into a visceral and feminine experience of the body that is both raw and responsive. On the one hand, my approach is like a bodily prayer. On the other hand, it is a transmutation of trauma. Either way, there is a question at the core of this work. What could happen if we were unconfined?

 

The gestures that feel the most alive to me result in layered and varied densities of graphite and oil stick on paper. They reflect the build-up of material and energy in some areas and its dissipation in others. Working in this manner, I translate my body's physical presence and empathetic experience. As I draw, I create a record of my experience. I know this moment will not last. I find a humbling comfort found in this action. Since my process is improvisational and intuitive, I rely on identifying a sense of breath and tension at work. The drawings range from vulnerable to explosive, from electric to airy, and from material to dematerialized. I attempt to strike a balance between erasure and assertion.

 

I draw as if in darkness, more with the desire for touch than for an image. Through the erasure of built-up marks, I grapple with the desire to be unmade. This stems from a place of unrest in my sense of self. I feel unease with my experience as a feminine person in our society. My drawings protest this afflict in their own quietness. I configure them in groups as interchangeable sets, or individually. Their varied movement creates a dialogue between their contrasting abstract narratives. I want to engage empathy through the rawness of my mark-making. In the negative spaces, I cry out for a moment of stillness. Angels Among Us is a ritual of reclaiming self while also connecting to a physical structure that resonates with others. These are the cumulative marks of my resilience, moment by moment. I draw a record of these inner pressure points. Within this act, I feel there is healing energy.