Why paint flowers?
Depending on how you found me, you may already know that I make a range of work, with one of my focuses being on social justice. You might be wondering, how is floral painting connected to social justice?
I write about this in a general way in my artist statement, but here is a bit more:
Both floral painting and social justice work are, for me, about reverence for life, interconnectedness and abundance. Both are underpinned by the desire, the right, and the innate ability of all living things, including all humans, to live and to flourish. Flourishing, though, requires all of our needs being met. Which, in turn, takes a collective commitment to social justice on personal, cultural and institutional levels.
So, these two things (floral painting and social justice work) come from the same part of me, the part of me that stands in awe of life, that wants to fight for and and make space for life in all of its expressions. That we all might be free to enjoy our time on this beautiful planet.
Also, the longer I’m around, the more I realize that (for me) being alive is about the the tension between -working towards what needs changing- and -simply celebrating what is already great-. My hope is that my art practice can always hold this tension, in whatever shape it takes.
Finally, on a community level, I am working on an Indigenous land reparations model that will tie concretely to my floral work. This is in process, and I’ll write more about it when it is launched. For now, check out the work of the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy.