Strength, Mixed Media, 20 x 30 inches, 2024.

Intuition, Mixed Media, 30 x 20 inches, 2024.

Peace, Mixed Media 20x 30 inches, 2024.

Rebirth, Mixed Media, 30 x 20 inches, 2024.

Artist Statement

My body of work mostly consists of drawings and paintings of characters based on fictional stories written through time. The inspiration for these four works is Spirit Animals, which represent elemental aspects of nature, and they are hybrids of two distinct species. The first work is a mixture of a snowy owl and snow leopard, the second is a mixture between a phoenix and a dragon, the third is a mixture of a dolphin and sea turtle, and the fourth is a mixture of a bear and a bull. I learned about the topic through research, which informed me how animal spirits guide us through life.

The materials used for these pieces are rhinestones, acrylic glue and acrylic paint, markers, recycled paper, and glitter. I first painted the figures with acrylic paint. Next, I collaged the outer background with an acrylic medium. Then, I colored the inner background with markers. Finally, I decorated the canvas with rhinestones and glitter. For the collage parts, I also used recycled materials, like magazines, journals, and greeting cards.

I used the design principle of contrast to guide my creative choices. Because the Spirit Animals are each two distinct species, they are duality in nature, and thus, my form mirrors my content. Contrasts include the following: 2D materials vs. 3D, color contrast like brown and green, acrylic medium contrasted with watercolor marker, and collage contrasted with paint. The rhinestones and glitter contribute to the fantastical nature of the Spirit Animals and their status in the world order; they are of another world. The main formal qualities I used were color contrast and textural contrast. The Spirit Animals are placed in the center of the canvas framed by the collage elements. This heightens their importance in the composition.

One artist who influenced my work was the German photomontage Dadaist Hannah Hoch, who produced work between the World Wars. Hoch used existing materials to produce intricate collages. Hannah believed that “

” (MoMA). This notion aligns with my choice to mix media on canvas as I sought to explore the use of alternate materials for

my works of art.
The Spirit Animals represent dualities; in the Phoenix Dragon hybrid, Phoenixes represent immortality and rebirth while dragons represent either evil or beneficently good in most traditions. The Animals have narratives that appeal to me as a fiction writer and have an inherent conflict that is important to storytelling. The four 20 x 30 collage paintings hung on the wall invite the viewer to reflect on which Spirit Animal resembles them the most, and on their duality natures.