About My Work

Drawing on the rich emotional and narrative potential of textiles, I weave contemporary tapestry exploring the interior and exterior landscapes that root us in our sense of place. Using eccentric weaving, off balance perspectives and limited ranges of hue or value, I create movement in my work, inviting the viewer to look deeper.

Exploration begins with imagery, usually photographs or simple sketches, captured during walks in the woods and visits to other places. Often, the landscape, architecture or inhabitants of another place also move me into another point in time. Images, colors, shapes and patterns drawn from nature play against the events and experiences of day-to-day living – hope, fear, joy, calamity, renewal, return – until the scale and proportions of a piece emerge. I think of my work as a storyteller or playwright would, populating it with interesting characters set against a rich background. My favorite characters are those captured off balance and off guard in an interesting moment of tension.

As a trained dancer and choreographer, the artists who have influenced my life and my work are not all visual artists. John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Twyla Tharp have had as deep and abiding an influence as Lenore Tawney and Barbara Heller. A common thread is a deep curiosity about process. Like Tharp, Tawney and Heller, I am fascinated by the interplay of power and fragility.