Last summer I shared a post about my new body of work created during quarantine called The Birds are Singing in the Nighttime. I have been consistently working on this collection, which is still ongoing, since last March when the world shut down due to Covid-19. Since then I’ve been reflecting on the work and as it has evolved, the name of the series has also been changed to “Nine” - and am sharing my thoughts in my Artist Statement below.
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In this body of work, I am both the Artist and the subject. It exists at the intersection of femininity, fertility, sexuality, destruction and personal freedom, as I uncover the fragility, strength, power and beauty of the female spirit and form.
Over a decade ago, I was told that it would not be possible to conceive children without medical intervention. While my individual journey has always influenced my work, I had never explored this life event through my art. The stillness, solitude and slower pace of the quarantine opened the door to finally confront these internalized yet unprocessed feelings.
I wanted to make work centered around my story where I contemplate what it means to be a woman enriching my narrative through the use of abstract, figurative drawing, vivid colors and textures. I started to create these figures as self-portraits in my sketchbook, drawing myself surrounded by poppies that appeared to me in a dream. Though poppies are a fragile flower, they symbolize peace, rest and resurrection and they are rooted in strength. The poppy embodied how I felt as I started to truly understand the enormity of my experience with IVF.
As women, we are often influenced and shaped by societal expectations, but as we get older, we are forced to face our own truths and construct our individual paths. By taking the time to reflect on my personal journey during the quarantine, I relinquished the weight of my experiences to unlearn what I felt defined me as a woman, wife and mother. Both rounds of in vitro fertilization that resulted in my children had yielded nine eggs retrieved from my body. I wanted to incorporate my nine and felt a strong pull to the poppy flower. I stopped overthinking and the series began to flow. Soon the figures stopped being me and they morphed into the collective woman--mystical, layered, unconforming and strong. These boldly colorful and layered works reveal a window into a world where things are slightly enigmatic and not as they seem. The unknown nature of the subject incorporates a dynamic tension in the works that falls in and out of reach. They are a window and a mirror.
The complicated emotions buried beneath my deepest layers revealed a beautiful and complex truth. What was challenging to confront over the past ten years now feels accessible and open. My hope is that you may find a piece of your journey and freedom in viewing these works.
To see more of this collection visit this link.
