* Artworks *
{ 2017 - 2019 | Click to expand }
* ENLIGHTENMENT BARBIE - A NEW MYTHOLOGY FOR THE ICONIC MODERN WOMAN *
Several years ago, I had an sudden and ecstatic enlightenment experience, as I was sitting outside, hungover at brunch. Ever since then, I have been pulling from my spiritual experience, my dreams and astral travel to create my own heavenly host of religious icons - each piece a unique shrine to the subtlety, grandiosity, and hilarity of the essence of reality.
“Enlightenment Barbie,” a name for myself and my work, is a nod to the “myth” that beauty and brains cannot coexist—and yet, the description of the quintessential Goddess—powerful, all-knowing, and strikingly beautiful in appearance and intelligence. Combining things that influenced my own unusual spiritual journey, I fling tradition to the floor in favor of creating my own religion. Medieval Christian iconography, Eastern religious shrines, and 60’s Guru culture collide with the modern woman in these color-drenched images.
Flanked by flowers, glitter, and gold, generous praise is invited for these mysterious women. My subjects start as models and muses. Then, through my photography, they become frozen in a chance glance—a raw moment of ecstasy. They transform into an expression of divinity that is at once both intensely personal and universal— an object worthy of devotion.
Starting with my photographs of women, I create digital mockups of each piece in Photoshop. I source vintage illustrations, and comb through my own photographs to find the perfect visual material. Once my study is complete, each photoshop layer is printed out individually, hand cut, and layered onto panel. After laying out and piecing together complex layers of paper, gold foil, and rhinestones, I finish the sides of my panels with brass tacks or gold frame molding. A layer of UV resistant resin gives each original collage a luscious shine.