The melodrama of girlhood and its multi faceted manifestations are reflected in the charcoal figurative drawings. My images offer a chance encounter with the intimacy of the individual at any moment in time. This current body of work is comprised of mixed media paintings and drawings. Thematically, I am exploring human emotions, specifically, moments of unguarded angst.  I am striving to capture a barely concealed instant of despair or pain that resonates with all of us.

The person we convey to the world is often a “created” image, one that has characteristics that are desirable, but not necessarily honest.  It is what we want our footprint of self to say to others.  In that “costume”,  intimate, more personal glimpses, slip into view, and we are caught “out” at the very times we are in the process of concealing.  A gaze, a turning away, can reveal raw emotions, as does a confrontational stare at a moment of insecurity.  What we use as a skin actually reveals more about us, and is apparent in body language, attitude and attire.   

The figures in these paintings are all costumed in some way, my mother’s honeymoon negligee, my father’s racing silks, a ballerina’s tutu.  The curlers are also a costume of sorts, changing one’s hair to be the perfectly coiffed or, just different than natural.  In an earlier generation, the bathing caps were worn by our mothers, to simulate their” just so hairdo”.   The caps had ridiculous flowers or decorations to give dimension to their heads while in the water, thus disguising a seemingly unattractive moment, and attempting to hide what’s underneath.

The poses are often uncomfortably confrontational, reflecting the teenage angst experienced by so many young girls. Conformity collides with a need to feel unique and different in some special way. I strive to deliver a cryptic narrative to allow for a contradiction of intent, these girls all portray a certain strength of identity while still being seemingly very vulnerable. The space is purposely ambiguous, without specificity or reference. This allows for a timelessness for the viewer: one which creates the question of one’s place in the narrative; solely as an observer, or perhaps as a participant drawing upon personal experiences and expectations.