Be Still and Know

Thematically, I have long been interested in our necessity to strike a balance between comfort and discomfort. I am fascinated by the resilience of people living in uncomfortable circumstances but managing to find comfort in wholesome ways. I am equally moved by the horrors people experience as a result of being too comfortable or by soothing discomfort self-destructively. I often draw inspiration from cycles or waves and seek to unify seemingly disparate subject matter. My encaustic pieces typically have an eerie, dreamlike quality, incorporating metaphorical imagery. I love how this can limit and clarify while simultaneously extending the meaning of a piece. This has also made my art more accessible, inviting interpretation even from viewers who do not normally consider themselves art lovers. A fellow undergrad student once said my artwork “allows people to be with pain.” When finished, they are lovely enough to draw viewers in and hold their attention, even when difficult feelings are conjured up. This versatile medium allows me not only to freely explore, but to also capture viscerally, the nuances of themes like weight vs. delicacy, pain vs. pleasure, clarity vs. confusion, and deterioration vs. growth.

Although my encaustic work up to now has often been intense, heavy, and dark, Be Still and Know (currently in progress), turns a page toward a new, lighter chapter. Although it’s already showing signs it will maintain intensity, I expect it will be an intensity that inspires awe and hope. My work continues to offer opportunities to settle in and get curious about the all-consuming feelings that arise, quite naturally, out of the mere monotony of daily life and the limiting stories we often tell ourselves. However, this series also invites people to approach these difficult emotions without a desire to avoid them, without a sense of urgency or hopelessness, but with the calm of knowing that they are inevitable, necessary, and temporary. Most feelings come and go with the tides, and the ones that don’t are surmountable when we walk in faith. My aspiration is to perpetuate messages around authentic expression, resilience, and compassion. Be Still and Know explores the threshold – both so far and near, full of questioning and knowing, so vastly complex and so very simple – where humans feel their connection with God.