Biography

I’ve always made lines and shapes. As a child, I’d use any free surface as my drawing board – dust on car windows, my bedroom walls, and even my skin. My school notebooks would be peppered with patterns of connecting lines, circles, and free-floating geometric shapes. While these sketches could be considered the product of a child’s bored mind, they were imaginatively structured and meticulously designed.

Minimalism and precisionism have always been present in my life. The rigid placement of objects, the lines they formed and how they spoke to each other gave me great comfort and peace of mind. Everything had its place in the world, an unspoken harmony. In adulthood, this way of being was given a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I see now that this wasn’t a death sentence, but rather a catalyst to keep creating how I create, though it is not without its challenges.

For many, many years I tried to force myself out of my natural processes. I followed the advice of experts to confine my work to one way, one style, one medium. This, I was told, was the way of the art world and the only way to be taken seriously as an artist. This led me down a very destructive art path. I would constantly destroy all my artwork and then start over. Once I realized that this was bad advice (for me,) I went back to my roots, and finally broke the cycle of destruction.

Creativity was never discouraged in my household, but I wasn’t often exposed to culture outside our small midwestern world. After my father was killed, my mother had to raise me and my sister alone. We weren’t close with our extended family, so I’d often fly solo and go exploring the areas around my town. It was during these younger years that I fell in love with the lines of nature, the hard frames of the steel mills, the graffiti on the sides of train cars, and Chicago’s architectural skyline across the waters of Lake Michigan. These early exposures resonated deeply and set the path for the subject matters I build into my art.

Now, my body of work consists of a mixture of mediums, styles, and themes. Some pieces call for traditional methods (marker, ink, paint, photography, etc.) while others benefit from new methods, such as the computer. While minimalism and precisionism are predominate in my creations, it is not uncommon for me to delve into gestured and expressively styled artworks. The core, however, is always in the connectivity of the subject matter.

Even though I am still living in the same Chicago-Land suburb, my artwork continues to mature. As the world evolves, so will my artwork, in whatever style is fitting to express it.

Statement

My work is about structure.

My work is about structure. The structure of simple combinations of shapes inciting movement to formulate a language, a scene, or theme. Minimalism and rigidity are the languages of my work. Sometimes that language speaks philosophically of issues revolving around global warming, civil unrest, and the aspects of man vs nature and other times it’s simply about the balance of shapes, color, and design.

Line is everything! I lose myself in exploring the guidelines, functions and connectivity of varied shapes, styles and elements. Clean lines and minimal details resonate. By removing the minutiae and focusing on the barest of essentials, I’m forced to analyze how line, color, and negative space plays an ample role in the construction of various environments.

CV

GROUP & DUO EXHIBITIONS (selected)

2022 – Tandem: Humans-Corals – 15th International Coral Reef Symposium, Kunst:Haus:Findorff – Bremen, Germany
2022 – Ausstellung Zum Klimaschutz (Exhibition Against Global Warming), NaturFreunde Berlin – Berlin, Germany
2021 – Beautiful Flower, Renoca Lobo Art Gallery, Valenzuela City, Philippines
2021 – Fluxus, Photography Center of Thessaloniki – Thessaloniki, Greece
2021 – Telephone, Online Exhibition (Covid-19 Restricted) – Brooklyn, NY
2020 – Identity, Art Fluent – Cape Cod, Massachusetts
2019 – Indy Windy : A Love Story (Curated by Ish Muhammad), Marshall J. Gardner Center – Miller, IN
2019 – Smalls to the Walls, Galerie F – Chicago, IL
2018 – Indy Windy : A Love Story, South Shore Arts – Munster, IN
2018 – Degrees of Abstraction, 201 Gallery – Argonne, IL
2017 – Geometric Complexions, Zhou B Art Center. – Chicago, IL
2016 – Line of Site, Mott St. – Chicago, IL
2016 – Gateway, Art NXT Level Projects /33 Contemporary – Chicago, IL
2015 – P.O.P : Perceptions of Population, 33 Contemporary Gallery – Chicago, IL
2015 – Mares & Jimenez (Duo Exhibition), Walnut Ink Projects – Michigan City, IN
2015 – Slideshow, Roman Susan Annex – Chicago, IL
2014 – Emergence, Mist Gallery – Richmond, VA
2014 – Curator’s Choice: The 10^th National Self-Portrait Exhibition, 33 Contemporary Gallery – Chicago, IL
2014 – Family: Interpretations by Contemporary Women Artists, Customs House Museum – Clarksville, TN
2013 – No Away To Throw To, Sacred Keepers Youth Garden / Shacks & Shanties – Bronzeville – Chicago, IL
2012 – MergeArts 2012 Summer Exhibition, MergeArts – Hammond, IN
2011 – Feminist Depictions of Darkness in Place, Space and Season, Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL
2010 – Go Figure, Thaddeus C. Gallery – Laporte, IN

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 – Suburban Seas, Promise You Art House – Highland, IN
2017 – Dark Matter, Chess Art Gallery (Purdue University) – Hammond, IN
2017 – Pop-Up (Curated by Highland Redevelopment Commission) – Highland, IN
2016 – Rhetorical Geometry, Wolff Gallery – Portland, OR
2014 – Expression for Isadora Duncan, Site Specific Installations, White Ripple Gallery & Co. – Hammond, IN
2013 – Rudimentary, Walnut Ink Projects – Michigan City, IN
2011 – INside Out, Tool Shed Gallery – Milwaukee, WI
2010 – Masque, Substation No. 9 – Hammond, IN
2005 – Selected Works, Bernard Gallery – Whiting, IN

AWARDS/GRANTS/PROJECTS

2019 – Owl You Need is Love Public Art Project – Sponsored by Humane Indiana
2018 – MINI Library Box Project Artist – Sponsored by MINI USA, Saatchi Art for Little Black Pearl – Chicago, IL
2018 – ‘Highland Has Art’ Grant : Highland Community Foundation
2016 – Highland Redevelopment Commission : Mural Project : Legacy Foundation Grant

RESIDENCY

2018 – Artist in Residence – Green Street Projects – Chicago, IL.
2015 – Artist in Residence – Keweenaw Coffee Works – Calumet, MI.
2013 – Lake House Studio Residency – CRN Fine Art – Valporaiso, IN.

LECTURES/TALKS

2019 – Artist Talk – Indy Windy : A Love Story – Marshall J. Gardner Center – Miller, IN
2018 – Art and Social Action – Saatchi Art Talks Panel – The Other Art Fair – Chicago, IL
2017 – On the Radar, Lakeshore Public Access Interview WLPR-FM 98.1
2017 – Art on the Air – WVLP 103.1 Radio – Valparaiso, IN
2015 – Insight Design Conference – Cedar Lake Arts Center – Cedar Lake, IN.
2013 – What’s That – Panel Discussion – Public Art, Environmental Movement and Community – Chicago, IL

PUBLICATIONS

2018 – HERE Magazine – The Story of Highland’s Three- Walled Mural
2016 – Portland Gallery Only Features Female Artists – KGW8 News – Portland, OR
2015 – iARTistas Magazine Issue #13
2014 – iARTistas Magazine Issue #11
2014 – Poets /Artists Magazine, Issue #55

CORPORATE/PRIVATE COLLECTIONS (selected)

University of Chicago Medicine – Prairie View A&M University – Dechert LLP – Charles Schwabb – Indiana University – Reside Living (Lofts at Gin Alley) – Embassy Suites – Kimpton Hotel, Manchester – Het Kleurbureau