'a shift in the wind' - preview of new paintings for joshua tree trading post
opening reception this saturday 12/2 from 5-7p
I’ve been spending a lot of time outside lately, climbing mountains, trying to see what the rocks see — lying down on them, wishing I could get absorbed into the sky. I’ve been feeling a shift in the wind, coinciding with the changing of the seasons, coinciding with the seasons of my life.
I used to hate the wind. For years I would say it was my least favorite element: messing up my hair, blowing up my skirt, rude and audacious, forcing everything around me to move when all I wanted was stillness.
“Won’t you just leave the leaves be?” I would think, “Won’t you just let things stay in their same place?”
But everything must move, mustn’t it?
The Wind has been one of my greatest teachers over the past year or so. I’ve been having dreams of her and she has come to me in ceremony. At the beginning of the year, I was working very closely with The Hawk and The Vulture as my guides. I used to experience The Wind as something that wanted to blow you down, deter you, and disturb you. I came to realize The Wind is necessary for you to glide: it carries you to where you want to be. It pushes you out of stagnancy, slowly and quickly, both consistently and out of nowhere.
When I was in Costa Rica this past February for my yoga teacher training, I meditated on the birds of prey that would glide over the ocean everyday, a scene I could see from our yoga shala. My goal there was to build strength, in every sense of the word. I did 6-7 hours of yoga a day, pushing my body and mind in a way that I never had before. Always watching the birds. Admiring the ease of their gliding.
The birds started to come to me in dreams. In one, I became a vulture: I felt the strength of my wings — solid, hard, muscular. I felt the gust of wind that allowed me to ascend in the way that I had seen. I had thought gliding was passive, something that happens to you. But no, it was active: every muscle in my wing held and tensed as I held myself in the air, flying higher and higher, ascending still.
But at the same time, my wings did not flap. There was no movement, only stillness in the strength. Only gliding on the gust of wind that I caught. There was ease in the effort. I realized it was not enough to catch your gust: to hold it, you needed strength, lest it destroy you. The muscles of your body partner with the strength of The Wind. The effort of The Self partners with the blessings of The Spirit.
And so it is.
Fate is not something that happens to you. It is something you partner with. The path is laid out before you but it is you that chooses to step upon it, or turn away.
It is your choice to listen, or to ignore, a shift in the wind.
‘a shift in the wind’ 🌬✨
I am delighted to preview my new collection of paintings, ‘a shift in the wind,’ debuting this Saturday, December 2nd at Joshua Tree Trading Post.
The Trading Post is one of the most iconic venues in Joshua Tree, located in the heart of downtown. Recently renovated by my friends Andrew and Chelsea Evans of Roaming Travels, The Trading Post is a new retail concept featuring an elevated selection of local and small vendors, from curated vintage to handmade hats. I am delighted to be the first artist showing work there, just in time for the holiday season.
‘a shift in the wind’ is inspired by the time I spent outside in the desert in November. I found myself climbing Ryan Mountain multiples times a week, observing the changing sky, and listening deeply to what the desert, and the wind, were telling me.
I am always thinking about where my work will end up, who it will live with and what I want them to experience. Knowing this show would live in the heart of downtown during the holiday season, it was not lost on me that many of the viewers would be visitors to Joshua Tree. I imagined what I would want to send them away with; how to describe what the desert has taught me over the past 3 years, what they might have only experienced a taste of in their weekend away in this powerful place.
As the artist, it’s always a pleasure to take a step back from a body of work and observe the changes that have occurred. In my process, I am so deep in it that it sometimes isn’t until I write these essays where I can see clearly what has happened and offer my reflections.
In that vein, I always welcome what you see and what you notice about any of my new work.
‘Atmospheric’ was how my friend Yvonne described the first few paintings she saw, which I loved. I’ve intentionally been playing with more, and lighter, layers. Working on paintings a few minutes a day, for weeks at a time. Working on creating more depth and the illusion of being able to truly dive into a painting. Working more with contrasting colors and how to depict light. Exploring how to make you feel like you could not only dive in, but fly through, the painting.
Paintings as portals.
Dreamworlds was the original title of this show. I’ve been doing more figurative work lately, painting the spirits I see in my dreams and in my waking life. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about where they live — what dimension? What is heaven, and what does it look like, feel like? Or what would it feel like to live in the sky? The seed of this show were those questions: where do these figures live? What is the experience of being in the atmosphere like for them?
The first few paintings have been described as galaxies, which they are. But as I dove deeper, I realized the desert is a dreamworld of itself and a different feeling took over. The longer I stay here and the more quiet I get, the more I lose the sense of what is sky and what is sand, what is above and what is below.
‘As above, so below,’ as they say.
I am always trying to capture that feeling.
All pieces are available and will be on view through end of January. Pieces can ship prior to the holidays by request.
To inquire about or purchase a piece, you can reply directly to this e-mail or buy directly via Joshua Tree Trading Post.
save the date
It’s all happening. If you've gotten this far, I’m excited to announce the following shows happening over the next few months.
NYC Wed 12/2 — “The Collective” a group show by Visionary Projects at the High Line Nine Galleries in Chelsea. Reception space limited, RSVP here. For Collector Preview, RSVP here.
LA Sat 1/27 — “did we save the daylight?” a solo show at Dorado 806 Projects in Santa Monica, opening and closing reception details to follow.
SF Fri 4/5 — solo show at Upper Market Gallery. Opening reception details to follow.
Save the date, more to come, and as always, many blessings and many thanks. 💖