Under the Big Top

I paint with oils, using the attitude and expressiveness of natural forms to investigate color and pattern. These paintings celebrate nature’s choreography and reflect the tumultuous times in which we live. The animated patterns are inspired by tendrils harvested from an unruly Passiflora vine that once grew in my garden.

Tendrils are strong. They uphold a plant’s structure–in this case, a vine once laden with fruit, foliage, and branches. Through this series, I explore harmony and turbulence. The painted shapes are chaotic, acrobatic, musical. They suggest tributaries, blood vessels, roots, freeway overpasses. I imagine systems in flux: off-ramps, realignments, uncharted pathways, detours. Pushing ahead, pushing back.

I invite viewers to reflect on ways in which nature offers us a path to navigate chaos, to channel energy and seek harmony, and to celebrate the exuberance and resilience of our natural world. Maybe the Big Top is a circus tent, maybe it’s a firmament, holding our humanity.