Statement/Bio:

I’m interested in the things we carry—our experiences, identities, and traumas—and specifically how we persist in spite of these visible and invisible burdens. I am inspired by human—in particular women’s—resilience and adaptability. My masked female portraits, lifeless feathered creatures and weighted-down insects, depict this everyday defiance. My work aims to transform these pivotal and difficult stories, with vibrantly-hued oil, watercolor, and collagem into magical narratives of personal evolution. Your traumas make you more beautiful. By abstracting hyper-naturalistic portraits using collage, symbolism, and pattern, I ask people to really look at my subjects and celebrate them. We look harder at things we can’t fully see. Ultimately, my practice is about hope, resolve, and joy in the face of life’s obstacles. My portraits are vivid, multi-layered, fanciful, and unconventional; they revel in the resilience required of each of us in order to persist.

I have been a practicing and exhibiting artist for over two decades, currently working as a full-time contemporary painter in the fantastically weird city of Portland, Oregon. Before I embraced my studio practice full-time, I spent over ten years doing curatorial and exhibition management for fine arts museums throughout San Diego, California. During that time, I also managed the public art program for the Port of San Diego and taught a number of art classes at the community college level and in a corrections facility.

I graduated with distinction from the MFA program at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London, and received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. My work has been exhibited across the globe including in London, Italy, New York, Chicago, San Diego, Seattle, and most recently, Portland.

www.centybearstudios.com
@centybearstudios