2- Cobble Hill / McLean Asylum for the Insane
Rooted - Artist Statement

“Those who have learned to listen to trees no longer want to be a tree. They do not yearn to be anything but what they are. That is home. And that is happiness.” - Herman Hesse

This piece, Rooted, speaks to the joy and grief of healing. 

Learning to heal is a lifelong journey.  The books, papers, watercolor, paint, and glue in this analog collage all tell a story woven throughout the piece. I tirelessly cut, ripped, glued, and painted to find depth and meaning through a two-dimensional collage on a three-dimensional surface in a four-dimensional world.

Through the process of layering, transfiguring, and transmuting paper, I want the viewer to reflect on the value of nature, stories, and the act of creating as a way to practice the moral cure. 

I remember sitting beneath a tree in Laguna Beach, CA. It was the first thing I did after spending weeks inside a psychiatric hospital. As the weeks progressed, I continued to sit under that tree until I was brought back into the world. 

Under that tree, I worked to unravel thoughts and behaviors that no longer served me. And I spent time meditating on how I came to sit under the tree. 

I talked to the earth and listened to the wind. 

I walked away, resolving to stay present, release the past, and have hope for the future. As the roots of a tree keep it grounded in the earth, I, too, worked to emulate that balance.

My moral cure is my creative practice in the analog. Collage, photography, and writing all have helped to develop the person I am today, a mother artist, educator, and a forever student,  working in community.  

The impact of music and art on my journey as a creative grounds me in ways that medicine, therapy,  or my treatment plan does not. And by weaving my creative practice into my medical treatment plan, I continue to [creatively] contribute to my growth and my surroundings.