I am very interested in thoughts around coping, and all the behaviors we allow it to rationalize, organize, dictate and create.  My childhood outside of Philadelphia draws me to topics such as the collateral damage of mental illness and addiction, feelings of isolation and rejection within a family, and the notion that there are realities you cannot change.  These ideas are coupled with concepts of more contemporary pressures, constant demands of daily life and our incessant connectivity.  We are scrambling and scattered while operating from a place of fear and anxiety - even in our contrived and structured “downtime”. This state, combined with our perceived inability to disconnect, our struggle to stay emotionally engaged, and the myopia our pace breeds is isolating, lonely and deeply disorienting - especially for women.  Domestic ambivalence, the craving to unplug and decompress is the point of departure in my work as it explores the conundrums of coping, aging, adapting, guilt and legacy. It is cycle of life meets science fiction, infused with fantasy, hallucination and altered states. These series nod to painting and sculpture heroes who defy genre and categories in their practice and make work that feels brave and authentic, while still incorporating my love of illustration, folk art and ceramics. The headstone paintings and sculptures investigate legacies, how we remember and commemorate who people truly were as individuals - for better and for worse. In addition to these loaded and complex narratives, technically the tensions in the images are in direct dialogue with the handling of the materials and devoid of technology. The paintings are rooted in a love of technical painting, then wink to formal teachings - while brimming with experimentation, thus a huge range of surfaces and textures. The images touch on ideas of climate change and draught, vulnerability and power, the relentless devotion and anxieties of family life, desire, sexuality and sexual identity, the sacrifices of career, failure, memory, and then of course the business of death -  all imagined with hope, humor and humanity.