Unfurl the Flags of Hard-Fought Freedom
The justice we seek is not easy. Life is not fair. We are fragile, our lives too often fleeting. We bear wounds. Battle Scars. Pain. If we are lucky, we live long enough to heal and to make a better world. The pierced shield and calcified wings symbolize a long, hard-fought struggle and the bedraggled flags symbolize both victory and loss. It is a reminder that in the end, all we possess are our actions.
36”x36”x1.75”
Oil & wax on panel
A Wing and A Prayer
A painting of prayer and meditation. The broken wing, and bone white moon, etched with the names of black women who died in custody, symbolize the lives lost to us in the shadows of our fear. This painting is an acknowledgement of my own failings, my complacency and shame. It is my apology and my prayer that we all find the full measure of grace in our being.
24”x36”x2”
Oil & wax on panel
How Sacred our Being
We are sacred beings, worthy of love and deserving of reverence, as we seek to find the full measure of our selves. Life can be brutal and our hearts torn asunder. It takes tenacity, fearless strength and a strange beauty to hold our lives together and to endure. Sometimes we arrive in tatters, but we arrive!
36”x36”x2”
Mixed media on panel
This is to be our Awakening
Inspired by the eagles encircling the trees where I live, this shield symbolizes the clarity we gain with knowledge and the strength we gain with purpose. This is new work for me, an awakening. A truth that can no longer be denied.
24”x36”x2”
Oil & wax on panel
Wild Abandon
Wild Abandon began as a journal sketch and moved quickly into a painting of joy. Despite the terrible forces in the world there are also small and miraculous moments of joy. We can choose to dance as we do good work and sing as we enact change. Marveling at the journey of the fully realized life.
24”x 24”x 2”
Oil & wax on panel
Revelation of Truth
In her book Untamed, author Glennon Doyle suggests we “surrender the privilege of not knowing.” This little painting suggests that surrender. The acknowledgment that privilege exists and our complacency makes us responsible. The portal represents knowledge and the winged figure represents our hopeful, higher self. We have within us the potential to transform and change the world.
10”x20”x1.5”
Oil & wax on panel
Quiet Defiance
A humble winged form expressing the simple truth of courage: that despite all the wrongs done to us, we are determined to endure, rise up and transcend. Care-worn and weary, but brave and unrelenting, we are unapologetic and demanding of justice.
18"x24”x1.5”
Oil & wax on panel
Still Point
At times, it is what I do not paint that carries the greatest power. This diptych of nearly symmetrical wings holds in its center an implied, centered still point. That quiet place within each of us from where we draw sustenance, beauty and strength. It is not the outstretched wings which hold the power here, it is the sacred still point within our hearts that radiates.
14"x 22.5”x.5”
Oil & wax on panel
The Beating Heart of Courage
There is a brave honestly about this painting, everything transparent, tremulous, vibrating. The light emanating from within. The wing, veined with branches, and the luminous discs, set off by the dark, rectangular form, create layers of depth, mystery and meaning.
Painted during the midst of the 2020 elections and the anarchy that followed, I found courage and a stubborn determination to persevere, come what may. I was preparing to do battle for freedom and country, and felt raw, exposed and strangely clear. Looking directly into the face of evil I recognized the fear and hatred at its core and knew it could be defeated.
36”x36”x1.5”
Mixed media on panel
Words are Made of Breath
Taken from a line of poetry by Cynthia Dewi Oka, I consider the power of our words. How simply they form and how potent their meaning. By the words we choose and the decisions we make, we set into motion our actions.
As we grow older and wiser, we learn to speak our truth in a low, slow song of quiet redemption.
20”x30”x1.5”
Mixed media on panel
Wing of Night (Blue Moon/Black Bird)
I often sit out at dusk, marveling at the birds and insects heading home for the night, while the nocturnal creatures, the bats and owls, awaken and arise to do their work. At this hour, the landscape and sky blur and merge. Being alive changes and everything is interconnected. Everything aches with longing.
I love the little full moon and the silhouette of a bird at the top. A marvelous surprise.
24”x24”x1.5”
Oil & wax on panel
Joy as an Act of Resistance
We all learn to navigate the journey of our lives, through the hard and the happy, the lonely and the loved. Our winged spirits, dancing and twirling as we find our way and arise.
24”x36”x1.5”
Oil & wax on panel
Ache in the Knowing
Just home from the Civil Rights March in Washington and alive with hope, I sat with the full moon over the desert, and a great solitude. I struggle with the balance of truth and beauty amidst my own fears. I do not yet know the way through and I am tired from trying, but I am determined to face fully these truths and reckon with these wrongs.
16”x16”x1.5”
Mixed media on panel
The Doing of What Ought to be Done
This painting is inspired by a sculpture by fiber artist Marion Baruch. A pair of broken wings drape extravagantly over crossed swords. It is a gesture of proud defiance.
I want to convey that crossing of the line we face, when things have gone too far and we are done complying for sake of ease. That moment when we find our people, stand in truth and do what ought to be done.
Two panels, each 20"x30"x1.5”
Oil & wax on panel
Artist Statement
My art explores ideas of injustice in contemporary culture and how we reclaim both autonomy and freedom when we arm ourselves with knowledge. The work is inspired by the Say Her Name, Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements as well as poetry, literature, sculpture and music. The work is derived from the ancient idea that shields possess spiritual power and protect us from violence.
My iconography includes words, broken wings, weaponry, multiple moons and rectangular geometric forms. The shields are highly textured paintings, with layers of wax, oil and other improvised medium, built upon wooden panels. The color palette is limited to three or four colors, with strong contrast. The visual effect is of fractured stone, weathered bone and luminous light.
My ongoing exploration of shields for broken spirits exposes difficult truths in our society and within ourselves. The work is a humble acknowledgement of what we lose when we cut short, stigmatize or terrorize another human life. I honor those who have perished in the struggle and offer hope that we can collectively heal broken spirits — and that we can all be free.