meet the gluestick guru
In the Beginning...
My first collage was my 6th grade Social Studies folder. I couldn't afford the Gap trapper with the built-in art kit, so I covered my folder with images that made me feel rich, inspired, and self-expressive. Since that moment, collage has been my playground to explore the concept of reality and challenge the definition of abundance. By using only paper that I can find (without printing or photocopying), I accept a level of limitation. Once I begin to create, I see infinite ways the pieces can come together, and I feel rich with colors, possibilities, stories to tell, and facets of my identity to express.
Both/And
I am a lesbian woman who grew up Catholic and formally studied religion. I am a professional data analyst whose strongest inclinations are intuitive and emotional. Through collage, I attempt to create space for and celebrate the parts of my identity that seem contradictory. I try to turn that discovery outward and apply it to the parts of life and humanity that are most difficult for me to understand and accept. My collages often reflect on themes of humanity & divinity, work & play, cartoon & reality, ordinary & extraordinary.
Lesbi Friends
As a gay woman who came out in my twenties, I also use collage to reclaim and celebrate moments of self expression and "coming of age" that I didn't fully experience in real-time: decorating my locker with my actual celebrity crushes, going to prom with a girlfriend, kissing a crush backstage during the fall musical. If my collage can bring you back to high school, too, I'm thrilled.
If we can create worlds of color, tenderness, exploration, and acceptance in two dimensions, who's to say those worlds can't exist in real life 3-D?