ARTIST STATEMENT

Color is a powerful tool that can evoke an experience. Much like our sense of smell is linked to our memories, I believe color can be used to the same effect. I am constantly influenced by color. A photo, a memory, an advertisement, the clothes that a stranger is wearing: the colors I see around me evoke an emotional response, and my goal is to convey what I felt to the viewer with my art. 

I’ve always been fascinated with the prominent colors of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I especially love vintage cookbook photos, creamy pastel Melmac dishes, and the absurd mix of patterns and colors of 70’s interior design. I wonder what life must’ve been like back then: did everyone have candy-colored rotary telephones and psychedelic patterned curtains in their bedrooms? Was everyone drinking Tom Collins’s from matching tumbler sets and eating perfectly trimmed tea sandwiches? I’m forever fascinated by this time, and wanted to explore the colors of this era. 

For this show, I’m using color to illustrate the stories of my mother’s life during these decades. Many of these pieces will be accompanied by a photo that explains the inspiration, but some of the pieces are simply influenced by what she’s told me of her memories and experiences. Fashion and music is a recurring theme, as tends to be the case no matter what decade we’re in. Turns out, my mother DID have psychedelic curtains and bold floral-patterned handmade clothing. Through my use of color, this body of work tells these stories from my mother’s life.

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