Booth 948
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About the Artist
Most of my life I've experienced social panic. The art of table manners and polite conversation was the stuff of my nightmares. However, underneath each fearful exchange of pleasantries, was the determination to express my awe that we even exist and a longing to share my wonder. Through time I have found a safe space in one on one conversation. I've learned that for light banter to become a heart-to-heart, someone has to offer vulnerability. My work is my offer. An ice-breaker; an invitation to an exchange of perspective and unhampered self-expression. My process starts with a face and the capture of one expression. Using a smooth surface paper, pencil, and pen I draft and refine the structure of the face. I enlarge and minimize specific features in order to magnify the emotion or micro-communication I desire to illustrate. I rely on stark contrast between B/W and color to represent the difference between someone's inner and outer worlds. My piece Masque (Inner Child) represents this idea literally. The B/W figure fans out in a ribbon to reveal the child within us all, in full color. Using various ink pens, colored pencils, paint, and occasionally found objects, I render in color the surroundings that elicit the thoughts behind their owner's expression.
