ARTIST STATEMENT

Since an early age, I was filled with wanderlust. I grew up near JFK airport. When we went to pick my parents up from a trip, people were arriving from other countries who looked and dressed differently. I was curious to learn about them. Where are they from? What do they eat? What are their customs? My travels began when I was fifteen and I went to Europe for the first time to study art. I was hooked and have continued to travel the world. I soon developed a reputation for having my own United Nations. For me communication and connection are important. If we could understand each other, we can create bonds, not wars.

THE WORLD I SEE is an exhibit that includes images from three recent foreign trips: Colombia, Iceland, and France. The photos of France were shot during the winter in Dordogne, the south of France. I was captivated by the old stone buildings and the landscapes. I love capturing images when the sun is setting or rising as it cast its golden light. When I was in Iceland, at the end of September, the weather was cold, windy, and rainy. As I stood shooting the wind was strong as the rain came down. There was magic in it all. The churches and Icelandic horses. Colombia was filled with color but the images selected include a man mopping the tile floor of a hotel and nuns being photographed in the square in Bogota.

I love to connect with people through their eyes. The series of portraits are moments I made those connections. And then there are selfies. Discovering a bird perched on a rock by the ocean as the sun rises behind it, I position myself so we are all in the frame.

I never know when I will see a beautiful moment that could be fleeting so I grab it and memoralize it forever. The sun moving as it reflects on the textured wall, a person walking into the light, or a shadow casted creating an unusual pattern on the pavement.

As an artist who creates in several mediums, I am a constant observer of life. I invite my viewer, my audience to experience the world as I see it, to feel what I feel, and to find their own personal connection. It is my mission through my work whether in photography, film, or prose to take people on my journey and bring knowledge and joy.