SHOWS

2008
Suite 100 Gallery • 2222 2nd Ave Seattle WA • July 11-Aug 1
Artist Xchange • 3169 16th St, San Francisco, CA • Paintings & Jewelry available
Eclectix Gallery • 7523 Fairmount Avenue, El Cerrito, CA • "Altarations" March 14th thru April 20th
Eclectix Gallery • Mother's Day Window Show • April 23-May 17

2007
Art SFest Spectra Ball • Regency Center • March 31
Artist Xchange • 3169 16th St, San Francisco, CA • Ongoing
Sad, but not too sad, I was pregnant and gave birth in May!

2006
Open studio • 2111 Mission St, SF CA • April 7th from 6-9 & April 8th from 11-6
The Michelle O'Connor Gallery • San Francisco, CA • April 8-May 8
AIR Gallery • New York, NY • March 9-April 1
Sebastopol Center for the Arts • Sebastepol, CA • Feb 16-March 20
Berkeley Art Center • 1275 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA • Jan 18 -Feb 25
Oakland Museum Collectors' Gallery, CA
Artist Xchange • 3169 16th St, San Francisco, CA • Ongoing
Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries • Winona, MN • Jan 14-Feb 17th

LINKS

here are links to the really fabulous people i have the privilege of knowing and who constantly inspire me:

katherine streeter: www.katherinestreeter.com kimberly schamber: www.schamber.com gary baseman: www.garybaseman.com esao andrews: www.esao.net richard borge: www.richborge.com andrew skwish: www.skwish.com emily flake: www.eflakeagogo.com terry marks: www.artgalny.com mike speranza: www.speranzastudios.com miss EGR: www.egrart.com jorge colombo: www.jorgecolombo.com eric white: www.ewhite.com eric hammer (who i had the priviledge of modeling for): www.arcadiafinearts.com/index_hammer.html karen silverman: altpick.com/karen also www.anomalyjewelry.com/ JT yost: www.jtyost.com/ michael alan: www.michaelalanart.com colin johnson: www.colinjohnsonillustration.com leigh wells: www.leighwells.com/

WHY

My work is a personal and emotional journey. I use female figures to embody emotion through body language, movement and in the relations of the figures to eachother and in relation to the space on the canvas. The figures have doll like features, seemingly simple expressions meant to convey layers of hidden emotion and internal turmoil. These characters cannot speak, their body language speaks for them. I'm especially interested in how the body reflects emotion in the shoulders, postures and eyes.

I experiment with different types of material on the canvas to create depth and dimension. The gauze reflects a need for protection, repair, or healing. The string is binding, moving and flowing. The added dimension with the gel medium creates more depth in which words can be scratched, movement and form can be conveyed.

There are usually pairs of characters, on big and one little. These relationships can be construed as mother/daughter, outer self/inner self, conflicts within oneself and conflicts with the other. Through movement, physicality and the doll-like faces, the viewers are encouraged to project their own story onto the canvas. Keeping it anonymous, simple and childlike allows each viewer to reach into him or herself to react or take in the emotions the piece touches on for themselves. Psychology is always fascinating to me, how we become who we are through our experiences.

I also use fabrics to give the characters more life. Tapping into those tactile memories from childhood of fabric, whether it be your mother's favorite soft dress or the fuzzy warmth of your favorite stuffed animal, the wallpaper in your grandmother's house or the trees against the sky. The mixture of these comforting elements with characters that are usually pretty uncomfortable, allows a balance of the sweet and the perplexing.

The characters communicate using their bodies, they relate, touch or not, grasp, twist, bend, grapple with eachother. The grace of one form contrasts with the clinging of another. I want the viewer to connect to these figures and feel an emotional pull, whether it be within their inner memories or with understanding.

The text is woven into the painting, deliberately congested to prevent literal definition. Using text can be dangerous, because it is so easy to read it to get the answer. I use it here more as a texture element, words unspoken or an inability to express that surrounds the characters.

The eyes and figure are deep yet simple, in order to allow the complexity of the pieces to be the emotions and turmoil happening between or with the characters.

Music is the thread that connects, it’s a human need to create and listen. Some of the musical influences that inspire and move me are PJ Harvey, Chan Marshall (Cat Power), Kristin Hersh (Throwing Muses), Exene Cervenka (X).

I tread lightly in order to allow others to follow and enter a world of unconscious and conscious, to open themselves up and to possibly walk in another realm of their inner mind and memory.

This idea of creating work that allows the viewer to be a part of the definition has been growing in my work quite organically over the last 10 years. I’ve found that what helped me the most in pushing my work into the next level or phase has been the experience of open studios in New York City, Brooklyn and San Francisco.

The idea of having a space separate from one’s home is a luxury. To then be able to have that space be public once or twice a year, becomes extraordinary. It allows me to be a part of the viewing process and to hear what the audience feels. I hear wonderful interpretations of each piece and I am given this amazing opportunity to communicate directly with the viewers, not just to be isolated within my own head. It acts as a critique and plain old ego bolstering.

I sell most of my work this way and while being a part of the gallery scene is important as well, having the open studios has given me the courage to continue to work and to know that my work speaks so personally to people.

I now live in San Francisco, California with my husband, son and 2 cats. I was not working for part of 2006-2007 (toxic stuff to the pregnant lady) and am currently working from home, plannng to transfer back to a studio in early summer. Keep checking back to find out where I end up!

MUSIC

My other inspiration is music. The name "devildoll" comes from one of my favorite bands, X. Music has no boundaries and when you are hit by hearing something it is like a full body experience. My blood is different when I hear a song that is fantastic. It makes me want to throw up and punch someone and scream and lie down and cry. I can surround myself with a song and let it wash over me and consume me. Being so sensitive can be my own worst enemy, but I try to channel the same emotions into my work.

BOOKS

I read voraciously and would also be nothing without books. There is a beautiful, vicseral response one gets from reading, because it involves the imagination. Reading is as inspiring as looking at a painting, when it is done well. I love to lose myself in things, whether it be a book, a film, a painting, landscape. I can gobble up a good book and feel lost without at least a pile waitning patiently for me to finish. I love used bookstores and all the possibilities, for some reason, much more that new books. I like my books to be read, torn apart. I also love to write, but usually confine it to canvas, so reading helps inspire those words and expresssions.