What do you feel? Solo exhibition at the Helzer Gallery at Rock Creek Community College Sept 21 – Nov 17 2026 in conversation with FALL of FREEDOM – nationwide cultural resistance to fascism because ART Matters! Courage is contagious!

Artist statement for What do you feel?

My art practice is materials-based, process-driven, experimental, with an emphasis on creating work that moves viewers internally. Art making is how I examine complexities, convey contradictions, and confront injustices. I make artist books, installations, mixed media sculpture, and works on paper that are influenced by research, personal experience, community engagement, collaboration, sense of place, and a conviction that art can make change. Working at scales both handheld and immersive, my intention is to spark an intimate curiosity in viewers that ignites self-reflection and action. I want the viewer to look carefully, think deeply, and experience the work from a personal place. I lure my audience with texture, material, juxtaposition, and the unexpected. I contextualize my work with metaphor and word play. Humor is a powerful tool to access the heart and allow us to go deeper. My exploitation of language and use of derogatory words has been a way for me to reveal systemic discrimination. For me, human hair represents humanity. I use hair because it is rich and thick with history, beauty politics, racial identity, genetics, and societal taboos. Each hair strand is unique and embodies the ability to attract and repulse simultaneously. I am interested in how my artwork makes you feel.

This exhibition spans 26 years of my creative practice. Some subjects, materials, and ideas continue to capture my imagination. In graduate school I was introduced to the artist book and witnessed firsthand how this medium can be a catalyst for discovery and surprise. Artist books unfold over time. They can have text and imagery or not. Their super power is in the way they engage the viewer thru sequence and experience. They are not limited to a book structure. In my mind, an artist book can be almost anything. It is the way the work is presented and how the information is imparted that makes it an artist book. From the beginning I have been testing the boundaries of what that means.

The silence of our climate crisis, the attacks on our civil liberties, the pervasiveness of white privilege, and the outright censorship and rewriting of this country’s history, all motivate me to respond. I must speak out because I imagine a better world, one that searches for truth and honors and protects Mother Earth and all of her inhabitants. I have linked this exhibition to the national cultural resistance Fall of Freedom  that is taking place October 2, 3, & 4 across the country to stand up to fascism! Fall of Freedom is an open invitation to artists, creators, and communities to take part — and to celebrate the experiences, cultures, and identities that shape the fabric of our nation. Artists are a threat to American fascism. For more info https://www.falloffreedom.com/