Time spent abroad has influenced my work to include themes of travel, movement and daydreaming. Whether it involves a visit to another country or my own back yard, my art begins with a camera and a journey. I use photography to capture specific moments in my memory, however I am drawn to images that can convey a snapshot of anyone’s memory: a boat tied to a dock may remind me of an afternoon in Madrid, but to someone else it is the boat they built with their grandfather as a child. As time passes, our treasured memories begin to lose details, which often become replaced by a more idealized version of the story. It is this version that I am trying to convey.

I am fascinated by the way printmaking processes can be used to transform a photograph. The gum transfer process in particular can break down a photograph in a way that results in a “bad print.” I use ink and acrylic paint to bring these broken photographs back to life.  A final layer of resin or wax helps to turn my nostalgic images into work that suggests a passing of time. My hope is that my mixed media paintings remind the viewer of a simpler time in their own idealized memories.