Written by Alicia Puig of Create Magazine, this feature was an honor to participate in.
1. What are your early memories of art and when did you first become interested in photography?
I think I always knew I would be an artist of some sort. As a kid, I would always be drawing and painting and making things – jewelry, clothing, dollhouses and so on. Often those projects would be executed on the floor beside my bed if I came up with an idea late at night and couldn’t wait till morning to get started. The funny thing is, my studio is now in my bedroom again!
Later, at a local arts centre, I took pottery lessons, and as a teen I taught classes in stained glass and fabric printing. I first did photography in a high school arts class and from there I won an international scholarship to a commercial art school in Denver called the Colorado Institute of Art.
2. The first example of your work I came across was from your Tremblor series. Can you tell us how the concept for this ongoing body of work came about? What is the process of making these images?
The initial impetus for this series was actually just a happy accident. I bumped my camera as I was shooting a still life. I liked what came out and I set out to recreate the look deliberately by using a long exposure and moving the camera while the shutter was open. I started working on this technique right around the time we went into lockdown. The unsettled effect of the double image mirrored my own feelings and resonated with many collectors in the initial days of the pandemic!
3. What are some of the other ideas that you explore through your work in general?
There are three main themes that flow like crosscurrents through my head as I’m working. From a visual point of view I love contrast. I’m very concerned about the exact light levels in the shadow side of the photographs. There needs to be something lurking there, not just a black space. I want the flowers to almost feel carved out of the dark background. In a larger sense, I look for contrast in ideas, too. The flowers are at their peek point of bloom, luscious and ripe. Yet nothing remains in that state and the dead birds, insects, skulls and empty nests serve almost as the flower’s foil.
Every still life set up is also a microcosm. Tulips bloom in the spring when many birds migrate so I will often pair these together in a still life. Later in the season, flowers are accompanied by (found, dead) cicadas that sing when the summer is at it’s hottest. In another image I've paired honey bees and honeycomb with Cosmos, a wonderful flower for pollinators. I live in a large urban setting, not far from downtown Toronto, but even here, nature has an order and a balance between flora and fauna, life and death, beauty and decay.
Finally, as a mother of three, the future of our environment and the effects of climate change are always top of mind. I try with my art practices to be environmentally conscious (all of my art supplies are compostable!) and to shine a light on the incredible diversity, adaptability, and resilience of the natural world.
4. You've said "I am constantly working against time and against the ephemeral quality of my subject matter." In what ways does this support your creative process and in what ways does it make it more challenging?
When there is nothing going on in my garden, when the ground is frozen and covered in snow, I don’t do any photography - I’ve recently started a ceramics practice to fill that gap. When plants are in bloom and the garden is abundant, I’m on flower time. As soon as things get going in the garden I have to structure the rest of my life around the flowers. There are several local flower farmers that I work with to supplement the material in my garden and yard, and if they call me with a particularly ripe bucket of flowers, that is the day that I have to get into the studio. The flowers don’t last very long.
5. Do you have one particular accomplishment as an artist that you're most proud of?
The relationships that I have fostered with the local Toronto flower farmers make me very happy. They are almost all women, and are small business owners in an unpredictable and tough industry. They actively campaign for more environmental practices like working without pesticides , floral foam-free arrangements, and composting. They are working hard to make a better world for their communities and I like to promote them whenever I can. Sometimes I buy their flowers, sometimes I trade and sometimes I get the bug-bitten, fully opened flowers that florists can’t use. I frequently get calls to pick up flowers on very short notice and I am continually surprised by the variety and beauty of the plants that I end up with. It's a real privilege being able to work with them in my arrangements.
6. What was your first experience seeing art in person again after lockdown? What did you see and what was it like?
Here in Toronto, lockdown has been lifted slightly only since last Friday. I haven’t had a chance yet to get out and see art but I am going to see Kareem-Anthony Ferreira at Towards Gallery tonight and I’m excited about that. I am drawn to paintings much more than photographs in a gallery space and I have yet to work out why.
7. We'd love to hear what you're currently working on! Do you have any upcoming projects or exhibitions in the latter half of this year that you'd like to share?
After last year, when so many of my bookings in art fairs, galleries, and residencies were cancelled, I’m finding that making plans for gallery openings just hasn’t been my first priority quite yet. I do have a show planned for December with the painter Nancy Friedland. It’s a show about moths and flowers!
