I never want to portray anything uncomfortable unless it is covered in rhinestones. I told this to a friend this once and still find it to be one of the simplest explanations of the dichotomy I try to achieve in my artwork. The work explores feminine gender anxieties provocatively and innocently, with something a bit disturbing underneath. The mixed media manipulation of traditional, domestic, and kitsch elements resonates with the mystical and the mundane, the illogical and the ideal. Seemingly paradoxical, it often encompasses morbid elements of the female experience.

Extracted from the language of Victorian flower symbolism, the delicate line drawings of floral motifs are combined with fictionalized representations of these character anxieties. Self-exploration through masturbation, birthing, and interchangeable sibling or lover relationships are personified, even anthropomorphized, with narratives found in myth, fables, and moral allegory. These literary references impart social and spiritual signifiers, most imprinted upon me during my Roman Catholic upbringing.

From the church-commissioned illuminated Byzantine manuscripts, French Gothic altarpieces, medieval tapestries I utilize the linear representation of a stacked flat visual space combined with various methods of gilding. The influences of these works of art on the botanical drawings create a sinuous, fairly repetitious line interpretation that is reminiscent of pattern making. I never tier of the tediousness of line work. Its often-meticulous application simulates the ritual habit I associate with spirituality.

Drawing as habit reveals the analytical potential of line to organize both a visual and conceptual plane. The meditative gesture of building a drawing through stylized mark making recounts my feminine angst with composed cognizance. The similarly reflective "busy work" of women's crafts are employed as an art form to combat anxiety. The craft of calligraphy collage found in scrapbooks, and the stitching of embroidery record the female's internal responses to external anxieties. These domestic practices often accompany the drawing process, gilding methods, and kitsch embellishments to transform the works exploration of the perplexity of gender into a glorification of femininity.