In the West, many of us are wrapped up in an artificial culture, and have lost our connection to nature. Meanwhile, nature is asserting itself with a vengeance on our lives in the form of global warming and natural disasters.

In the middle of these connections and contradictions is the individual. Unlike my grandparents, I am free to live where I want and do what I want, without the permission of my family or husband. But although women have made great strides in the last one hundred years, we are still far from equality and face many new challenges. Unlike in the past, when women were expected to be wives and mothers, our modern world demands we fulfill a multitude of sometimes contradictory roles.

In my life I have to balance running my own business with making and exhibiting my art, being a girlfriend, keeping in shape, organizing to meet deadlines and dealing with the stress of living in a society that seems ready to collapse. We are told that to succeed we have to be everything for everyone, and if we stop to breath and look at the surroundings, we will be thrown at the wayside.

Personal narrative is an important element in my artwork, and my experience as a woman making her way in the world plays a large part in developing my images. Through my work and life I hope to create a space where the viewer can pause and observe their surroundings, noticing the connections that hold our contradictory world together, especially our connection to nature.