I approach my artwork methodically: Research, design, execute. This methodology was already present during my studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, where I developed a pop-art style of digital portraiture. After graduating, I began searching for a alternative to the vivid but flat prints. I taught myself how to cut portraits out of construction paper, and I have been cutting ever since.
I relish the smooth, controlled, and 3D line that a knife creates. Each composition is like a puzzle requiring careful arrangement of positive and negative space. In 2008, I began displaying my papercuts as lightboxes, which remain my signature. Inspired by history, anthropology, technology, and cultural flux, these pieces tell stories while reveling in craft and design.
My work has appeared in over a hundred exhibits throughout the country, and has been featured in solo shows at venues such as Fred Schnider Gallery (Arlington, VA), McLean Project for the Arts (McLean, VA), Hillyer Art Space (Washington DC), and Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (Santa Ana, CA). I have completed residencies at Vermont Studio Center, RAAM103 (Ghent, Belgium), and Georgetown University.
I hold an MFA from University of Wisconsin-Madison. I teach drawing for adults at Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington and a range of media for youth at US Arts Center. I am a founding board member of the Arlington Visual Art Studio Tour and board member emeritus of the Guild of American Papercutters. My studio is in Arlington, VA, where I lives with my husband (and sometimes his parents).
