I make prints, collages, paintings, and artists’ books. I have many other interests, including sewing, foraging, and a love of fibre and fabric which sometimes cross over into my artwork and vice versa.

I studied fine arts at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (BFA, MCAD, 1991) in the USA and shortly thereafter became a studio intern, and later an artist fellow, at the Women’s Studio Workshop in upstate New York. I was also an enthusiastic member of the mail art community and made ‘zines. After taking a very long hiatus and having lots of adventures, I re-embraced art-making. Today when I am not busy in the studio, I am enjoying my work as an archaeologist (PhD, University of Auckland, 2015), living and working in the beautiful Far North of New Zealand.

I am an affiliated member of the Print Council of Aotearoa New Zealand.

My practice is based on inspiring situations: scenes that reflect a sensation of the fantastic and adventurous, combined with delicate elements that represent the basic structures underpinning all life.

Each work captures a moment in time. The moments I depict remind us that in all life there exists an endless series of little dramas. My compositions explore dialogue between actors in these dramas. As a work develops, a conversation unfolds. Sometimes the work is a slow meander while I try to tune in to the discussion, and at other times it is rushed as I scramble to document something that has taken on a life of its own. By creating narratives where actors and landscapes are of equal importance, I draw the viewer into a world where the interaction of colour and form are political manoeuvres.

While all this might sound serious, my approach to thinking about – and making – artwork is often light-hearted. I am a reluctant philosopher. Driven to make things and finding joy in the process of creating, I usually look forward to being in the studio, wherever it happens to be.