The Forager’s Spirit Guides

Currently, I am working on a collection of new works on paper and stretched canvas entitled “The Forager’s Spirit Guides” (started in 2023 and ongoing). These works range from small (8 in. x 10 in.) to large (up to 5 ft. x 6 ft.) pieces, composed with a wide range of materials including, but not limited to acrylic ink, dry pigment, spray paint, watercolor, marker, oil sticks, acrylic and oil paint. One example of how I visualize my core themes is in my repeated use of a checkerboard-esque pattern that I use to define architectural spaces and figures. This evolved from an ongoing meditation that considers the rhythm and pulses of the living body, of breath, and the beating heart. In tandem, it is the rhythm of these electrical systems that keep our spirits tethered to our bodies throughout our lives, while it is the earth that tethers us to each other in a 3D form.

In May 2024, I experienced both giving birth and being present for the death of a loved one within five days of each other, and I often contemplate the magnitude of these moments. That is, the moment a newborn takes their first breath and when a loved one takes their last. Often, we are encouraged to fear the latter, although, in both occurrences, it’s as if the universe has shifted, as if a portal has opened that allows a soul to enter this world or leave. These experiences opened up the significance of breath and its relationship to the portal, gateway, to the place where our souls live when they are not tethered to our 3D bodies in this life. I think about the human body and how we are connected to rhythm. The checkerboard pattern visually mirrors that rhythm, the rhythm of breath, and the pulses of heartbeat. The figures, trees, plants, and landscapes that show up in my work, often are very bodily, almost creature-esque, as if only something this unusual and vibrant - but with the shape of something “normal” - can house such a magnificent thing as a soul.

Through these fantastical elements, this work opens a conversation about how much of our human experience is lived in the 3D world that we all know so well, and how much is lived through energy and forces that we barely know how to name.