::: flowers unfolding :::

Abstract

Art is a regenerative kind of healing magic. In the studio, my body works with my mind to make paintings, drawings, collages, ceramic objects, hand-written words, and multi- media instillations. Through this work, I examine how my menstruating, gender-fluid white/pink body/mind of Irish decent moves through space, and the interactions I have with plants and other humans. So many lives are steeped with pain or plagued with de- pression; my work is done in mourning for those lives and in questioning the rigid struc- tures of a racist, ableist, sexist, homo/transphobic, patriarchal society. I tend to these pains with witchy practices such as herbalism, tarot reading, astrology and dreaming. When these cumulative experiences are released in the studio, they take shape in intricate, vibrant images which are meant to captivate viewers, giving them a momentary release from this hurting world. This work is a rebellion against the guilt-ridden catholic religion I was raised under: cut- ting paper is a substitute for confessing sins, recycling and reusing materials replaces eating the body and drinking the blood of christ, repetitive mark-making is my own way of praying. Changing materials into art is a way to channel my thoughts about this hurt- ing world, and curing the pains that linger in my body as a result of what I experience. Through this embodied examination, I hope to be a small part of the transformative healing our world so desperately needs. By changing materials in my studio into beauti- ful forms, I find magic within the mundane.