I am an Alaska born artist who explores narratives in home, queer theory, representation, identity, family, and consumption. I form images that give me a sense of placement, or otherwise speak to the dissociative feeling of being between homes; they articulate the interplay between physical environments, togetherness, and bodily love.
My latest research is on the power of food and feasting, and the possibility of identifying queer food as a culinary and dining experience. Through interdisciplinary methods such as quilting, woodworking, interviews, painting, video, bringing-together, and cooking, I identify patterns that allow me to weave together the disparate threads between place, food, queerness, family, etc.
My practice aims to create joyful narratives for my community and to celebrate the many moments of lesbian delight that, when strung together, can envision an expanding future. In garden works, I mobilize with queered land to practice how healing the dirt and cast-away creatures can be an expression of self-love, how “self” expands well beyond my skin suit. This is a lesbian activity, too.
I am interested in uncovering constructed and dangerous binaries such as human/nature, rural/urban, kitchen/garden, dirty/pure - and questioning how they work to isolate, dissociate, dismember, and erase beings whose very existence challenges the capitalist agenda and settler-colonialist mindset.
Exhibitions
2020 Rewoven, Mission Hill Art Gallery, SMFA at Tufts, Boston, MA
2020 EAT YOUR HEART OUT, Makeshift Art Space, Bellingham, WA
2018 Cotton Mouth, solo show at the Jansen Art Center, Lynden, WA
2018 A Symbiotic Qualia, Western Washington University (WWU) Western Gallery, BFA thesis show, Bellingham, WA
2018 New Terrains Juried Exhibition, WWU Viking Union Gallery, Bellingham, WA
2018 Raw: The Nude, Cooper Lanza Gallery, Bellingham, WA
2018 Unfold: Nude Form and Concept, Gallery Pegasus, Bellingham, WA
One of my paintings “Stitch” was featured in the Cascadia Weekly exhibition review, True to Form, A Closer Look at the Human Body by Amy Kepferle, 02/07/2018.
2017 Germination Juried Exhibition, WWU Viking Union Gallery, Bellingham, WA
Featured in the AS Review exhibition spotlight by Josh Hughes, 12/04/2017.
2017 No Foto, WWU B-Gallery, Bellingham, WA
2017 Resiliency Juried Exhibition, WWU Viking Union Gallery, Bellingham, WA
2015 SACI Juried Art Exhibition, Studio Art Centers International Gallery, Florence, IT
2014 No Big Heads, University of Alaska Anchorage Student Union Gallery, AK 2013 No Big Heads, University of Alaska Anchorage Student Union Gallery, AK 2013 Great Big Heart Show, Middle Way Cafe, Anchorage, AK
2013 17 Still, Alaska Humanities Forum, Anchorage, AK (Solo)
Curated Exhibitions
2021 Mental Health Mosaics juried exhibition, Anchorage, AK
2020 Students Curate Students juried exhibition, SMFA Atrium, Boston, MA
2018 A Symbiotic Qualia, WWU Western Gallery, BFA thesis show, Bellingham, WA
2018 Collective Clearance, WWU B-Gallery, Bellingham, WA
2015 North to the Future, Alaska Humanities Forum in collaboration with Out North Contemporary Arthouse, Anchorage, AK. Featuring works by local Alaska youth artists.
2015 Exhibit featuring works by LGBTQ community members, Out North Contemporary Arthouse, Anchorage, AK
Education & Experience
2020 MFA Candidate, SMFA at Tufts University, Boston, MA
2015-2018 BA, BFA, Visual Arts, Mixed Media Concentration, WWU, Bellingham, WA
2015 Independent semester abroad, Studio Art Centers International, Florence, IT
Experience
2020-2022 Fabrication Studio (woodshop) Monitor
2022 Teaching Assistant in Visiting Artists in Performance, Danielle Abrams, SMFA at Tufts, Boston
2021 Teaching Assistant in Painting and Installation, Patte Loper, SMFA at Tufts, Boston, MA
2021 Tufts University Art Galleries Graduate Fellow
2020 Teaching Assistant in Decolonizing Our Walls: An Anti-Racist Art Audit, Betsy Redelman Diaz, SMFA at Tufts, Boston, MA
2020 Member of the 2020-2021 Students Curate Students Curatorial Committee
2018 Art Auction and Experience Intern at the arts non-profit, Artist Trust, Seattle, WA
2017 Art Teaching Assistant at Ferndale High School, Ferndale, WA
2016 Volunteer restoration project on an aging mural, Lynden, WA
Scholarships, Awards, & Grants
2020 70% MFA Tuition Scholarship, SMFA, Boston, MA
2018 Valedictorian of the College of Art and Art History, WWU, Bellingham, WA
2018 RSP Grant, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, WWU
2017-2018 Western Foundation Academic Excellence Scholarship, WWU
2017-2018 Double Eagle Scholarship, College of Fine and Performing Arts, WWU
2016-2017 CFPA Dean’s Scholarship, College of Fine and Performing Arts, WWU
2016-2017 Blake Grinstein Scholarship. Fairhaven College, WWU
2016-2017 Art Department Scholarship, WWU
2014 Honorable Mention at No Big Heads exhibition, University of Alaska Anchorage