I was born of circus folk – not from tight rope walkers or sword eaters – but raised in a household buzzing with eclectic,
eccentric and creative band of artists, inventors, teachers, and actors that shaped my world. From an early age, all
that gorgeous and weird stuff that they generated was just part of my every day visual experience. You grow up in that environment, and you can’t help it – it’s in your blood for good.
In my first show with sister Miss Mindy titled “le monde est une cirque” (the world is a circus), over ten years ago, I began expressing my views about the world through these hybrid girl and animal creatures and characters, and from there, developed a love for using these folk portraits to tell stories and document feelings. Elements of “Circus” have always remained in my work, but for this show in particular, I imagined my perfect circus would be a band of the artists, inventors, and actors – shown as hybrid human animal characters, performing/existing in beautiful, theatrical, and unusual ways – all with unique backstories. Here, I was compelled to create work that both delights and sadden the senses, that evokes a sense of theatricality and that reveals these characters as the unique, beautifully adorned, revered, or misunderstood characters they are.
They are modern folk portraits, telling stories in the their tattoo’s,their costumes, and their sometimes precarious predicaments –
perhaps not so different that us all.
Check out Miss Mindy and my work at the Stranger Factory Gallery!
