ARTIST STATEMENT
My paintings explore memory and disorientation evoked by a sense of place. Born in a colonial city constantly morphing between cultures, I watched people come and go, always on their way to some other place. When my parents decided to leave the home where they had spent their entire lives, we left behind extended family, friends and the world we knew. I was too young at the time to understand how much this would change my life. Ever since, I have continued to move frequently, never spending more than a few years in any one city, searching for the “home” that I have never found. Over time, I have learned to embrace this itinerant life - the adaptation, change and growth that come with each new place.
I often reflect on the feelings evoked by different environments and the interactions that result in conflicting narratives. My work explores the disruption and disorientation drawn from these experiences, and questions the solidity of perception and reality. I am fascinated by coexisting opposites: abstraction and representation, gesture and grid, repetition and variety, organic and geometric. In my work, I use photographs as a jumping-off point to construct an imaginary space through form, colour, and texture. I use an exploratory approach and allow the process to guide itself. For me, drawing and painting are dialogues that take place over time, pushing and pulling between different elements. I like to be surprised by the conversation.
SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2019
Burien Community Center (Burien, WA)
Centennial Center Gallery (Kent, WA)
2018
Downtown Seattle Association (Seattle, WA)
City Hall Gallery (Auburn, WA)
Grounded 路上にて, AIRY (Kofu, Japan)
2015
Past is Present, Eastside Artist Collaborative (Bellevue, WA)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
City of Kent Summer Exhibit, Centennial Center Gallery (Kent, WA)
2017
A Generous Kingdom II, Verum Ultimum Art Gallery (Portland, OR)
To Honor the Children, Mount Baker Neighborhood Center for the Arts (Seattle, WA) - Invited
Summer Dreams, Gene Suarez (Seattle, WA)
Six Artists Six Visions, Gene Suarez (Seattle, WA)
Gene Suarez (Bellevue, WA)
Group Show, Lynnwood Convention Center Gallery (Lynnwood, WA)
Tashiro Kaplan Artist Lofts (Seattle, WA)
2016
Perspective from Different Views, Studio 103 Gallery (Seattle, WA)
Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, Treason Gallery (Seattle, WA)
Summer Showcase, Mercer Gallery (Mercer Island, WA)
Best of Gage, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
Landscape: A Sense of Place, Site:Brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York)
Studio Arts Intensive & Trowbridge Atelier Exhibition, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
World on Fire, Chase Gallery (Spokane, WA)
Everyone’s In, The Alice (Seattle, WA)
2015
Crave, Columbia City Gallery (Seattle, WA)
In the Mind's Eye, Mount Baker Neighborhood Center for the Arts (Seattle, WA)
Showcase Winners, ArtSlant (online)
Best of Gage, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
Atelier exhibition, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
The Kang-O’Higgins Atelier: Recent Work, AXIS Pioneer Square (Seattle, WA)
2014
AN/T Gallery (Seattle, WA)
2010
Lakemont Gallery (Lakemont, GA)
Passion for Red, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
2009
Lakemont Gallery (Lakemont, GA)
Dogwood, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Holiday Gems, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Southeastern Pastel Society/Marietta Cobb Museum of Art Outside Exhibition, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art (Marietta, GA)
Atlanta Artists Center Annual National Show, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
AAC in the Limelight, Binders Art Supplies and Frames (Atlanta, GA)
Journeys, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Art Trek May 2009 – Unitarian Universalist Show, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (Atlanta, GA)
Southeastern Pastel Society 2009 Members Juried Exhibition, Lyndon House Visual Art Center (Athens, GA)
Dogwood Show, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
2008
Celebration, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Synchronicity, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Spice of Life, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Appalachian Pastel Society 3rd Juried Exhibition 2008, Gallery of The Arts Council of Henderson County (Hendersonville, NC)
New Members Show, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Saturation, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Southeastern Pastel Society 13th International Juried Exhibition, Oglethorpe University Museum (Atlanta, GA)
Abstractions of Life, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
RESIDENCIES
2019 Vermont Studio Center, USA
2018 Artist in Residence Yamanashi, Japan
HONOURS
2018 City of Kent Purchase Award
2016 Regional Finalist, Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series
2016 Juried Winner, ArtSlant
2015 Showcase Winner, ArtSlant
2008 Honourable Mention, Southeastern Pastel Society 13th International Juried Exhibition
PUBLIC COLLECTION
City of Kent Portable Public Art Collection, Kent, WA
Chamblee City Hall, Chamblee, GA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Richeson 75 International Pastels Art Competition, Jack Richeson & Co., Inc., 2009
Flourish Magazine, September/October Vol. 42, No. 5, Atlanta Artists Center, 2009
Flourish Magazine, July/August Vol. 42, No. 4, Atlanta Artists Center, 2009
EDUCATION
2015-2016 Studio Arts Intensive, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
2015 Kang-O’Higgins Atelier, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
2013-2014 Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA), Pratt Fine Arts Center (Seattle, WA)
2007-2009 Spruill Center for the Arts (Atlanta, GA), Chastain Arts Center (Atlanta, GA),
The Art School in Sandy Springs (Atlanta, GA)
My paintings explore memory and disorientation evoked by a sense of place. Born in a colonial city constantly morphing between cultures, I watched people come and go, always on their way to some other place. When my parents decided to leave the home where they had spent their entire lives, we left behind extended family, friends and the world we knew. I was too young at the time to understand how much this would change my life. Ever since, I have continued to move frequently, never spending more than a few years in any one city, searching for the “home” that I have never found. Over time, I have learned to embrace this itinerant life - the adaptation, change and growth that come with each new place.
I often reflect on the feelings evoked by different environments and the interactions that result in conflicting narratives. My work explores the disruption and disorientation drawn from these experiences, and questions the solidity of perception and reality. I am fascinated by coexisting opposites: abstraction and representation, gesture and grid, repetition and variety, organic and geometric. In my work, I use photographs as a jumping-off point to construct an imaginary space through form, colour, and texture. I use an exploratory approach and allow the process to guide itself. For me, drawing and painting are dialogues that take place over time, pushing and pulling between different elements. I like to be surprised by the conversation.
SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2019
Burien Community Center (Burien, WA)
Centennial Center Gallery (Kent, WA)
2018
Downtown Seattle Association (Seattle, WA)
City Hall Gallery (Auburn, WA)
Grounded 路上にて, AIRY (Kofu, Japan)
2015
Past is Present, Eastside Artist Collaborative (Bellevue, WA)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
City of Kent Summer Exhibit, Centennial Center Gallery (Kent, WA)
2017
A Generous Kingdom II, Verum Ultimum Art Gallery (Portland, OR)
To Honor the Children, Mount Baker Neighborhood Center for the Arts (Seattle, WA) - Invited
Summer Dreams, Gene Suarez (Seattle, WA)
Six Artists Six Visions, Gene Suarez (Seattle, WA)
Gene Suarez (Bellevue, WA)
Group Show, Lynnwood Convention Center Gallery (Lynnwood, WA)
Tashiro Kaplan Artist Lofts (Seattle, WA)
2016
Perspective from Different Views, Studio 103 Gallery (Seattle, WA)
Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, Treason Gallery (Seattle, WA)
Summer Showcase, Mercer Gallery (Mercer Island, WA)
Best of Gage, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
Landscape: A Sense of Place, Site:Brooklyn (Brooklyn, New York)
Studio Arts Intensive & Trowbridge Atelier Exhibition, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
World on Fire, Chase Gallery (Spokane, WA)
Everyone’s In, The Alice (Seattle, WA)
2015
Crave, Columbia City Gallery (Seattle, WA)
In the Mind's Eye, Mount Baker Neighborhood Center for the Arts (Seattle, WA)
Showcase Winners, ArtSlant (online)
Best of Gage, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
Atelier exhibition, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
The Kang-O’Higgins Atelier: Recent Work, AXIS Pioneer Square (Seattle, WA)
2014
AN/T Gallery (Seattle, WA)
2010
Lakemont Gallery (Lakemont, GA)
Passion for Red, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
2009
Lakemont Gallery (Lakemont, GA)
Dogwood, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Holiday Gems, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Southeastern Pastel Society/Marietta Cobb Museum of Art Outside Exhibition, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art (Marietta, GA)
Atlanta Artists Center Annual National Show, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
AAC in the Limelight, Binders Art Supplies and Frames (Atlanta, GA)
Journeys, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Art Trek May 2009 – Unitarian Universalist Show, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (Atlanta, GA)
Southeastern Pastel Society 2009 Members Juried Exhibition, Lyndon House Visual Art Center (Athens, GA)
Dogwood Show, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
2008
Celebration, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Synchronicity, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Spice of Life, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Appalachian Pastel Society 3rd Juried Exhibition 2008, Gallery of The Arts Council of Henderson County (Hendersonville, NC)
New Members Show, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Saturation, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
Southeastern Pastel Society 13th International Juried Exhibition, Oglethorpe University Museum (Atlanta, GA)
Abstractions of Life, Atlanta Artists Center (Atlanta, GA)
RESIDENCIES
2019 Vermont Studio Center, USA
2018 Artist in Residence Yamanashi, Japan
HONOURS
2018 City of Kent Purchase Award
2016 Regional Finalist, Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series
2016 Juried Winner, ArtSlant
2015 Showcase Winner, ArtSlant
2008 Honourable Mention, Southeastern Pastel Society 13th International Juried Exhibition
PUBLIC COLLECTION
City of Kent Portable Public Art Collection, Kent, WA
Chamblee City Hall, Chamblee, GA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Richeson 75 International Pastels Art Competition, Jack Richeson & Co., Inc., 2009
Flourish Magazine, September/October Vol. 42, No. 5, Atlanta Artists Center, 2009
Flourish Magazine, July/August Vol. 42, No. 4, Atlanta Artists Center, 2009
EDUCATION
2015-2016 Studio Arts Intensive, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
2015 Kang-O’Higgins Atelier, Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA)
2013-2014 Gage Academy of Art (Seattle, WA), Pratt Fine Arts Center (Seattle, WA)
2007-2009 Spruill Center for the Arts (Atlanta, GA), Chastain Arts Center (Atlanta, GA),
The Art School in Sandy Springs (Atlanta, GA)