Muses, Guardians and Saints welcomes viewers to consider and celebrate

the identities that exist within each of us.

Muses, Guardians, and Saints - Artist Statement

These pieces originate exclusively from my imagination. After two decades of painting portraits from direct observation and photographs, I decided to stop using visual references and to create intuitively—a dance with my subconscious. 

What emerged are characters that I have come to know as archetypes, memories, ancestors:  Muses, Guardians, and Saints. They reflect some of the multiple—often conflicting—identities that exist within each of us. We embody these essential human attributes consciously and unconsciously, temporarily and constantly, as we interact with one another, the world, and internally within ourselves. They are fundamental ways of being and are passed down through generations and assumed through socialization and memory. 

This body of work follows a long history of archetypal studies: the Kabbalah, the Tarot, the Classical Temperaments, the Enneagram, the 21 Taras of Buddhism, Carl Jung’s twelve fundamental traits, the Myers-Briggs, the many faces of the Hindu Deities, and countless more. By acknowledging our dualities, as well as our potential, we cultivate balance in our relationships and our lives. 

The ground layer of these mixed media paintings was created by transferring 48" x 36" drawings onto wood. The symbols within each painting illustrate the essential aspects of the character. The exhibition captures one moment in the life of The Protagonist, with some muses, guardians, and saints more present and in focus than others.  

As it was assumed through my schooling that I could identify with the male protagonists in the male-authored texts I read, I am hoping that everyone across the gender identity spectrum can see themselves in these universal, archetypal roles manifested here in feminine forms.

There are infinite ways of being human.