Artist Statement
I make block prints. I see prints as a way of telling stories. I spent my teenage years going back and forth between two different continents where people spoke different languages. I noticed that language not only is used to express thoughts but also shapes the reality of the world. Every language serves as a prism. Perhaps this is where my passion for languages and storytelling comes from - the hidden polemic and dialogue is fascinating to me.
I see prints as stories told in a language that can be decoded with the set of keys that are your own experiences. My work is informed by the things I see in nature: differences and similarities in the various patterns I find in the world. Whether it’s wilderness or human interactions, I believe we all try to to make sense of our experiences by comparing what we see to what we already know. Block prints lend themselves easily to the explorations of contrasts and patterns.
Block printing is a medium that also lends itself easily to storytelling. The process follows a unique sequence of steps that result in a meaningful experience and expression, just like stories do. The first step of my process requires me to distill the idea to the most important elements. Later stages allow me the opportunity to explore and develop a more elaborate narrative around it as the I spends a long time time carving the image. The printing stage is always very exciting for me. I think I like it so much because I can experience the thrill of seeing something for the first time: I can become the audience, see what appears before me and be surprised.
As someone who is trained as a speech and language therapist I tend to think about the inner workings of human interactions. I believe that the best conversations between two people happen when both people are ready to talk, to listen and to be present. It is curious how art has a way of tricking the laws of time and space: I use prints to tell my story at the time when I am ready to tell it and later the image can be it discovered by the audience at the time of their choosing. I find that being working in the medium of block printing elevates my practice as a therapist: it widens my horizons by reminding me that art is a way to suspend reality and to transform it because it is a nonlinear way of creating space for conversations, a tool so powerful that it beats time. It defies the roles of a creator and the audience, because it allows one to experience the role of the other. Art is magical and I feel passionate about sharing my vision of it with others.
I make block prints. I see prints as a way of telling stories. I spent my teenage years going back and forth between two different continents where people spoke different languages. I noticed that language not only is used to express thoughts but also shapes the reality of the world. Every language serves as a prism. Perhaps this is where my passion for languages and storytelling comes from - the hidden polemic and dialogue is fascinating to me.
I see prints as stories told in a language that can be decoded with the set of keys that are your own experiences. My work is informed by the things I see in nature: differences and similarities in the various patterns I find in the world. Whether it’s wilderness or human interactions, I believe we all try to to make sense of our experiences by comparing what we see to what we already know. Block prints lend themselves easily to the explorations of contrasts and patterns.
Block printing is a medium that also lends itself easily to storytelling. The process follows a unique sequence of steps that result in a meaningful experience and expression, just like stories do. The first step of my process requires me to distill the idea to the most important elements. Later stages allow me the opportunity to explore and develop a more elaborate narrative around it as the I spends a long time time carving the image. The printing stage is always very exciting for me. I think I like it so much because I can experience the thrill of seeing something for the first time: I can become the audience, see what appears before me and be surprised.
As someone who is trained as a speech and language therapist I tend to think about the inner workings of human interactions. I believe that the best conversations between two people happen when both people are ready to talk, to listen and to be present. It is curious how art has a way of tricking the laws of time and space: I use prints to tell my story at the time when I am ready to tell it and later the image can be it discovered by the audience at the time of their choosing. I find that being working in the medium of block printing elevates my practice as a therapist: it widens my horizons by reminding me that art is a way to suspend reality and to transform it because it is a nonlinear way of creating space for conversations, a tool so powerful that it beats time. It defies the roles of a creator and the audience, because it allows one to experience the role of the other. Art is magical and I feel passionate about sharing my vision of it with others.