Nearsighted

Not Paradise

Codependency

Self-Imposed Affliction

When Walking Through Hell, Keep Moving

Converse

Illuminated

Emergence

Let The Truth Soak In

Cleansing My Shadow

Laying Down My Cross

I Have Wings To Fly

Confidence

Evanescence

Leaving It Behind

Transcending

Message Received

Release

Weathering Storms

Ebb & Flow

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I am from many places but nowhere specific.  My Dad was a career Navy doctor who took us from where I was born in Japan, to the Mid-Atlantic states, and back to Japan again before I went to art school.  Both of my parents were artists with a love for photography.  My Mom collaged, painted, & made jewelry while earning a Master’s in Art Therapy.  A full time Navy Physician, my Dad made pottery, sculpture, and collage too.  Both were exhibiting artists in Tokyo with their collage in the early 70s.

My Dad gave me my first camera at 6 and when I was 14 gave me his Nikon. I graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art in ’92 with my BFA in Photography.  While working as a graphic designer for a small publishing company, I finally found my dream job as an “in-house” advertising agency photographer.  Years later, I set aside my dream to stay home and raise two daughters. I freelanced while I was a stay-at-home Mom but it wasn’t enough.  As my daughters grew up, I knew I wanted to become an Art Educator. Finally, in 2014, I went back to school to earn my MFA in Photography with the goal to teach on the College level.  In the Fall of 2016 I began teaching Photography 1 at a local community college and in May of 2017, I will have completed classes and earn a Master’s in photography.

January – Solo Exhibition, Neighborhood House, Philadelphia, PA

May – Graduate Showcase, 625 Gallery, San Francisco, CA

September to November – The Painted Stave, “Aqua House Staves,“ DASEF, STEM Education Exhibition and Fundraising Auction, Highest earning donated piece of exhibition and auction, Smyrna, DE

July – Juried Group Exhibition, Ebb & Flow, “The Eclectic,” D-Art Center, Norfolk, VA

June – Juried Group Exhibition, Self-Imposed Affliction, “The Next Big Thing,“ Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA

March – Juried Group Exhibition, Laying Down My Cross, “Women’s Work,“ North West Area Arts Council, Woodstock, IL

February – Juried Group Exhibition, Red Kayak, won best use of non-traditional collage processes, “Cut It Out,” Gallery One Visual Arts Center, Ellensburg, WA

December – Juried Group Exhibition, Campfire, “Live Amateurs,” Mint Gallery, Atlanta GA

March – Group Exhibition, Annual Members’ Show, 1st Place Photography division, MM 74.5, Art Guild of the Purple Isles

March – Group Exhibition, Annual Members’ Show, 2nd Place Photography division, Anne’s Beach, Art Guild of the Purple Isles

February – Solo Exhibition, “Wabi-Sabi,“ Holley Gallery, Annapolis MD

July – Group Exhibition, “Members’ Best, Unique Fiber Exhibit,” Queen Anne’s County Art Council, Centreville MD

October – Group Exhibition, Best in Show, Schooling, “Annual Members’ Show,” Stevensville MD

2014 – 2017, MFA, Photography, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA (graduation date of May 2017)

1989 – 1993, BFA, Photography, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD

1988 – 1989, Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, MD

2016 – Present:  Adjunct Photography Professor at Delaware Technical and Community College, Dover, DE

2011 – 2016:  Freelance Multimedia Graphic Artist & Commercial Photographer, Miami/Florida Keys FL to Delaware (photographer for AIRBNB.COM, photography and ad design for “Social Florida Guide,” photography, and graphic & web design for Chef Michael’s Restaurant, Islamorada, FL.)

2009 – 2011:  Art & Marketing Director, Accent Business Interiors, Bowie MD

(photography, graphic & web design, and marketing)

1999 – 2009:  Freelance Multimedia Graphic Artist & Commercial Photographer, Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area (photography, graphic & web design, and marketing)

1995 – 1999:  Staff Photographer, Giant Foods, Inc., Landover MD (commercial photographer for in-house advertising agency.  Used digital and analog camera systems.)

College Art Association

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia, PA

Randall Rader, Former Chief Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Washington, DC

Zyngenia, Gaithersburg, MD

“Midlife and the Alchemy of my Individuation” is a fine art, self-portrait and landscape series reassessing my past and actualizing my future.  This is illustrated through visual representation of the personal transformation phases in Philosophical Alchemy, a process of transforming and perfecting one’s soul.  The intent of this series is to encourage reflective thinking by the observer.

In the Nigredo phase, I deal with the dark matter and negative aspects of myself, illustrated by wearing black in my portraits.  During the Albedo phase, I wear white because I have broken down and banished negativity.  My soul has been perfected, I am self-aware, and not experiencing darkness anymore.  The final phase, Rubedo, is signified by wearing red, a result of becoming stable and aware of myself and surroundings.  I now know the secret and have the elixir for the rest of my life.

With the use of Cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown, and inkjet transfers I build my images to narrate my story.  The blues are symbolic of my hopes, while the browns illustrate reality.  During the process of mixing and painting chemistry, I am freed from the confines of traditional photography and I can coerce chemical reactions, like my reactions between hopes colliding with the real world.  In short, one cannot find the secret to life and visualize it without experimentation.

Through a series of 21 Blue Van Dyke and inkjet transfer images, I visualize becoming self-aware in the process of soul purification following the three phases of Philosophical Alchemy.  In learning to face the negative aspects of myself, replace them with positivity to move forward, and learn the secret to living my life.  I did not want it to speak to one religious practice but reference spiritual similarities found in many religions.  By visualizing my soul purification through Philosophical Alchemy, I am making my journey relatable to a diverse audience.

I became aware of Philosophical Alchemy during a class called Mythology for a Modern World.  I wrote a paper investigating the myth of Midlife Crisis and how artists visualize their feelings during this phase through their art.  Many artists such as Picasso and Georgia O’Keeffe, have been exceedingly prolific well into and past Midlife.  During this phase in life we evaluate and reassess our direction or path we should take.  This phase is not always the result of a crisis.  It more often is the product of reflection.  The phases of Philosophical Alchemy, Nigredo, Albedo, and Rubedo, became the visual path for my series, “Midlife and The Alchemy of My Individuation.”

The idea of Alchemy was also very appealing to me since I had been working photographically with mixing Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown chemistries together to provoke reactions between the two.  I related to these interactions to relationships and periods of my life.  Sometimes they worked beautifully together and other times one overpowered the other process.  To me this signified the past conflicts in my life and my desire to control the seemingly uncontrollable.  In Philosophical Alchemy, the more you practice purification and self-awareness, the clearer your mind and direction become.  In Photographic Alchemy, practice does not create perfection but greater understanding and control over the process of making art.

Photographing for final images starts with capturing rural landscapes where I live.  The land or sea scapes that become Blue Van Dyke background images are photographed separately from self-portraits.  I photograph all backgrounds and self-portraits with a 40mm or 20mm Canon prime lens.  Landscapes are photographed using only natural light.  They are wide open vistas, desolate and empty aside from an occasional farm building, house, body of water, or trees.  These backgrounds are the canvases on which I am visualizing my place in the alchemic phases and journey to emotionally recover and accept my new life.  My self-portraits are photographed in my studio with lights.  The lighting used for these photographs sometimes matches the direction of sunlight in the landscape.  Self-portraits specifically are lit so they will stand out better as an inkjet transfer on the Blue Van Dyke background landscape. 

Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown are processed together to print my landscapes on 12”x18” water color paper.  The chemistries are not painted or printed separately but at the same time.  When painting Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown onto the water color paper, I mix the them together for specific visible chemical reactions.  The skies, which are printed with Cyanotype, represent my dreams and aspirations.  The foregrounds are printed with Van Dyke Brown which represents the reality and circumstance of my situation in life.

After the Blue Van Dykes are printed on a 24”x 24” UV light box, they are processed in the darkroom in a wash, fixer, and final wash.  Once dried, I choose which Blue Van Dykes to use for inkjet transferred self-portraits.  In a Photoshop document, I put together several versions and sizes of the self-portraits I am thinking of using for image transfers.  Once I have a Photoshop document ready, I print the self-portraits on to inkjet film.  I cut out the multiple versions of portraits and place them on top of the dry Blue Van Dyke to visualize the final composition.

When I have decided on the right self-portrait and size, I soak the Blue Van Dyke in water so that the self-portrait can be transferred.  A paint brush is used to blend and blur the image into the background.  Sometimes I allow the image to stay sharp in appearance and other times I blend it or parts of the image into the background.

The finished collages are equally leveled by the horizon line between the sky/Cyanotype and foreground/Van Dyke Brown.  Sometimes the sky or ground over powers the other to show an imbalance of the circumstance with one process taking over another.  As a final touch, self-portraits compositionally and emotionally sharpen the impact of the final collaged image.

Once final prints are made, I gesso a 12"x18", 1 ½” cradled wood board panel. I then use acid free, archival glue to adhere the final image onto the wood board. Then I apply a wax encaustic coating to the image for UV protection and preservation. Finally, I paint the 1 ½” outside edge of the board with black acrylic paint.  The image is finished with a black float frame that is not distracting and keeps a viewer focused on the image.  Since these images are one of a kind, they are meant to be seen framed on a wall.

Photographing.  Since presenting my thesis during the midpoint review, my work has transformed visually as much as my alchemic transformation.  I also have learned how to control the seemingly uncontrollable reactions between Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown chemistries.  What I was uncomfortable and tentative to put together, I am now fearless with experimentation.  I have learned how to take what I was feeling and experiencing and transform it into images that communicate a message.

Looking back to my first and second semester images, post midpoint review, I feel my messages were too overt.  I have learned to be subtle and to trust my instincts instead of over-planning and trying too hard with my images, letting go of the idea of tightly controlling the chemistry and experimenting more with painting and mixing the two processes together.  I also experimented with several different types of paper to find the visual results preferred for this process. 

Confidence is the best word I can use to describe how I have grown as an artist through “Midlife and The Alchemy of My Individuation.”  As I learn to accept failures as lessons in life, behind the camera and in the darkroom, my future direction becomes progressively clearer making my way through the phases of Philosophical Alchemy and Photographic Alchemy.