Art is a prayer. Art serves as a vehicle to access the higher power within us as well as in the universe. In modern industrialized culture, art is often separated from the rituals of everyday life. However, I take inspiration from my cultural heritage where art and prayer were integrated into everyday living; sculpture served protective and worshipping functions, altars were key components of homes and temples, and jewelry was worn as talismans.

I use painting, collage, altars, and talismans as tools to bring beauty, compassion, justice, abundance and strength into my life as well as the world around me. Sometimes I create out of a sense of longing or lack – I depict and name the things that I wish to overcome or let go of, such as sorrow, loneliness, pain, self doubt, separation, defeat. At other times, I create to water my internal garden through celebrating, giving thanks, and affirming all that is right with me and the world. In my arts practice, I make and share these tools with others.

Everything in the universe tends towards balance and harmony. I am drawn to natural symbols and themes because they embody this law. Humans in modern society often function counter to nature’s rhythms and this misalignment creates much of our pain as well as the pain (interpersonally and systemically) we are able to inflict on each other, earth, and other species. The constant, cyclical, interconnected way of nature reminds me of the world I am seeking to create as well as the way in which we should create it.