I translate those observations into representational wall works that begin with fabric. I often add ink, paint, or colored pencil before completing the work with machine stitching, which adds both line and texture.

From across a room, the work can appear photographic or painterly. Up close, the construction becomes apparent: pieces of fabric, drawn and painted details, layers, edges, and lines of machine stitching. I like that shift in perception and the way the work rewards a closer look.

My years working in theater also influence the way I see. I often notice a quiet theatricality in everyday life: costumes waiting without performers, flowers arranged at a market, objects gathered on a mantel, or a musician who seems to belong to another world. At other times, I construct an image to express an idea rather than beginning with an observed scene.

Before focusing fully on my fine art practice, I spent more than a decade in costume production with the Los Angeles Opera, later serving as Assistant Costume Director.

Since moving from California to Portugal, questions of place, belonging, and putting down roots have naturally entered some of my work. The move has given me a new environment to observe while also changing the way I think about home.

Whether a piece begins with something I have seen or something I have imagined, I create it because I want to explore it in fabric or encourage others to see it more closely.