“Originally we had planned for a trip to Anchorage, Alaska, where I imagined I would be drawing directly from the landscape and painting in plein air. For the time being, COVID-19 halted our plans for this visual adventure. Instead it was fun to think of my everyday studio life as an artist residency outside of the ordinary. I began engaging in social media a bit differently, by inviting the online community into my studio and process each day, I was provided a different perspective through the lens of audience engagement. This ended up being a new way to enjoy my studio, not only as work space, but also as a tutorial space. I have taught art courses and workshops for collectives and museums but I have not done them in a digital format like we did for the Jaunt residency. It was a new experience to teach through the Instagram live platform, and I found myself very comfortable and engaging in a way that did not feel forced or too performative. I treated it as though I was on a phone call with a friend, chatting about my art process and how I make things. I loved seeing the positive responses of people being curious and wanting to learn more. I really enjoy being an accessible resource for painters interested in new techniques.

I’ve always been grateful and thankful for my studio as a space to create. My studio is not only a work space but a space to inhabit and live. Many artists use residencies as designated and uninterrupted time to work on projects. While I was unable to get out of my familiar space, the lack of social distractions, because of quarantine, created a residency-like environment within my studio. I painted one of my ceramic pieces in my studio for my Jaunt artwork. I have been making a lot of abstracted leopard printed patterns and incorporating them into fabrics and artifacts in my paintings. This pattern was featured in my recent solo show, Objects of Affection at Hashimoto Contemporary. During my stay at home residency with The Jaunt, I was also preparing for my solo show. It felt natural to continue on with the visual language present in my studio. The subject of my finished piece, Leopard Print Vase, was inspired by a painting that was a reference from a different painting and turned into a ceramic vase, then circled back into a screen print. This leopard print vase manifested itself into all of my current mediums; painting, ceramics, drawing and printmaking.”

Travel diary