After a career as a Flavor Chemist, and as a mother of two, I was longing for an outlet to express myself and relieve the anxiety of caring for an aging parent with dementia. On a whim, I took a collage class at the 92 Street Y in NYC, and the minute I picked up a straight edge, I fell in love with the medium. In a short four years, I have had the opportunity to exhibit my work in over 20 group shows, including Brooklyn, NY; Chelsea, NY; Edinburgh, Scotland and Rennebu, Norway and have had solo exhibits in NYC and Washington, CT. My work has been published in numerous art magazines and in the newly released book “Collage By Women: 50 Essential Contemporary Artists”. I am a member of @thecollageclub, an exclusive group of collage artists who collage the same page of the same book each week. In 2018, I organized and curated, @the_collage_garden NYC, an installation in the 6BC Botanical Garden in the East Village, NYC that showcased collages submitted by artists from over 25 countries.
Statement
I have been intrigued by maps my entire life. Well before GPS, road maps were the only source of guidance for navigating direction. Opening a map in the car leads to the exploration of places unknown. Many road trips with my family encompassed my interests in travel, photography, and adventure. I loved the sense of knowing exactly where I was at any moment, along with the ability to control and direct my experiences. But it was the appreciation of discovering new and exciting cultures that captivated my desire to traverse the world and the use of maps guided me across the globe.
Using vintage maps in my new series All Over the Map, I am able to re-envision the connection to my past through hand-cut collage. The use of the maps line, color and symmetry naturally inform the direction of the work. The lines on the map are both symbolically and literally the physical link connecting past and present. The juxtaposition of vintage images, constructed as whimsical and surreal compositions, are used without regard to true context or scale. The places are grounded in reality but embody the attitude that anything is possible.
I am motivated by the hunt for the images in print and through the viewfinder. I scour book and tag sales for vintage materials such as atlases, maps, books, magazines, globes and vinyl record albums. This adventure, like the physical journey of the map, parallels my artistic odyssey. The process of hand cutting then layering pieces, which often include my own photographs, into exaggerated form is both meditative and stimulating. Each piece is meticulously cut to create a one of a kind dreamlike composition, which allows the viewer to decide what is true and what is imaginary.
@mixdmediamashup
