Artist statement

I paint my moths and butterflies directly on the front of glass that has been affixed in a frame. The texture of the paint plays off the surface of the glass, lending to the impression that each creature just happened to have landed there.

They aren't meant to look like perfectly pinned specimens, but instead as though they simply saw a frame sitting ostensibly empty and thought it would be a good place to rest their wings; as though they are alive and could fly away at any second. Part of the story this ongoing series tells is in this illusion of a fleeting moment that has been frozen and can be held onto.

This idea initially harked back to memories of finding treasures when I was little, and marked a rediscovery of an intrinsic personal fascination with this practice of collecting and curating objects that tugged at my imagination and heart. The concept of the winged things as moments that can be kept instead of slipping away forever continues to expand and evolve as I navigate the nuances of loss and grief as an adult.

These pieces—the moths and butterflies themselves, as well as the carefully collected frames that house them—manifest a long-held love of gathering up things that may be somewhat ordinary or even unusual, but that are also interesting and beautiful, whimsical and sentimental. Each one carries its own quiet sense of magic.