Collaboration: FAMILY TREE

woman in white and brown dress standing on green grass during night time

see below

48" x 84", diptych, acrylic, collaged papers and a clear gem, on framed canvas.

The Matriarch was curated alongside the commissioning couple. We considered not only the space it was to inhabit, but also the story it could carry. In this two-canvas painting of a large, old Douglas fir, several personal elements were included that held meaning for the couple. Overall, they wanted me to encapsulate the kind of environment along the trail behind their home. I knew the path and wandered there to collect photos of key features that could represent this special place without being tied to a literal location. Threads of poetry from the maternal grandmother's book were added to the fir tree's deeply grooved bark, the handprints of the couple were placed like moss on its lower trunk, and, finally, a tiny glass gem set into the crook of the main branch to symbolize an adoption story. It embodied the family narrative. Many good conversations have been generated by the presence of this painting as friends and family have gathered in its space.

"Matriarch"

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48"x36", acrylic, ink, collaged paper on birch panel

I Hear With An Accent was created with my father and my cultural heritage in mind. Embedded in this piece are elements that honour my immigrant father, and an exploration of our Dutch heritage.

See details of this personal family story in the images below.

"I Hear with an Accent"

My father's handwriting in Friesian, his native language.

Pages of one of his childhood books.

Names from our family line, written by my father.

see below

48" x 36", acrylic, collaged papers on unstretched canvas.

This Weight We Carry is a meditation on grandmothering - my own recent role in life, as well as the recognition of several grandmothers in my world who have carried significant generational stories and the how-to's in forming a home and a life.