In the Pines

What themes do you pursue in your work?

Storytelling. Folklore. These are the real themes of my work. I feel like I am the handmaiden of Story. My visual pieces tell stories. Most of the stories are about real people from a real place, my homeland. Being a good storyteller was and is an important part of the social structure of my community and culture. I would argue that it is an integral part of any culture anywhere. Ernesto Pujols, a performance artist born in Cuba, said that American art should be moving toward a “new regionalism,” that artwork devoid of social content was holding us back while the rest of the world had caught on and was busy telling its “stories unapologetically.” That is what I want - to tell my regional stories unapologetically. With a liberal dash of magical realism thrown in for flavor.

I just finished this series where I have represented four generations of my family: my grandmother Alice Diane, my mother Alice, myself, and my daughter Fable Pearl as embodiments of the Fates, the Graces, and the Furies. Folklore and mythology (which are just the cultural beliefs and stories of a particular group) become central to the narrative of these pieces.