Through my interest in portraiture and the physicality of the human face, I have been led to the women in my maternal line. Their genes are my genes, and our facial similarities are the manifestation of that biological bond. Their faces reveal something about who I am and where I come from. I have set out to learn more about their lives and establish a new connection to the generations I never met, while creating a new understanding of those still in my life. Hairstyle is a symbol for one’s persona and how one wants to be seen. Patterns of similar hairstyles among my family hint that we have a strong history of positive mother-daughter relationships and are not afraid of showing our similarities.

I have experimented with new drawing mediums and combinations and created the drawing experience that I feel I have lacked over the last few years in art school as a painting major. The process of drawing is one of the most important reasons why I make art and will continue making art, more than the ideas behind the work. Drawing as an act is a meditation. It is a way of visually working out ideas and discovering a part of what it means to be human. By drawing the women who have come before me, I am ultimately searching to learn more about myself.