My Artist's Statement

I’ve been face and body painting for many years; I was instantly seduced by the possibilities of the transformations and the colors. After working with several photographers, I needed to learn their craft to give voice to my own visions in a way that was less ephemeral than the body painting alone. Photography to transform the body painting, not just record it. Shooting my work is a relatively new experience for me. I love being able to take the process from an idea to a tangible photograph. I’ve been blessed to have some great mentors for photography and am feeling real growth in my abilities.

The magic and the transformation of the body paint process transfix me. Very often my models tell me that they don’t recognize themselves or remark on how beautiful I made them. I’m enchanted by the ability we have to reinvent ourselves, the changes that happen when we don a disguise or become other than our normal self. I like to take what is inside and make it visible. I want to make the unseen other-self tangible. I cannot do what I do without the model providing the canvas; it is very much a collaborative process. Respect is a key component of my work: if the model doesn’t feel respected and safe, they aren’t going to respond in front of the camera the way that I need them to. Frequently I ask a model what his or her passion is so I can have a theme that will fit them. Often an idea will have to be reworked because of restraints imposed by the model, time, and external forces. I love that there is an aspect of spontaneity and having to think on one’s feet to what I do.

I love spirals and swirls, how they caress the curves of the model. I like mystery in an image, uncertainty about what you are seeing. I have a need for an intensity of color. The more saturated the better. I can’t have a favorite color. That would be like asking a mother to choose her favorite child. I remain fascinated by the power of color to evoke an emotional response. I love my brushes. When the point of the brush makes contact with the skin is when things happen. It’s that moment of creation.

For me the process of creation process is timeless. Timeless as in nothing else seems to exist for me while I’m painting and shooting as well as timeless in that since prehistory, people have been painting one another.

I hope for people to have a reaction to my work, be unsure, feel a connection to something larger and feel the magic of the transformation.