The earth inspires my work in bas relief sculpture cast in handmade paper. My fascination with handmade paper began over 30 years ago while searching for the perfect paper to print on. I think of these series, the “Santa Lucia Series” and the “Locus Magiquorum Series” as treasure hunts, from the macro to the micro, that the work invites investigation, akin to walking in the desert or on a beach. The list of what is embedded in the work is a trace of my travels and interactions as earth from Picuris Pueblo in New Mexico, green shale from Maui, amethysts from Brazil, rose sand from Big Sur, lace from my Sicilian Grandmothers tatting.

Working with raw fibers, some I’ve harvested from along streams and in gardens, others imported from Asia , fulfills a deep longing to connect with creation. If you were to see my work surface you’d think it was an event in nature. While working I think of first formation when the earth was molten and cataclysmic, slowly cooling and settling as I watch water flow, become entrapped as the piece dries. I like to upset the fibers by placing different kinds next to one another so that they will warp and shrink at varying rates, thus creating g inconsistencies as tea leaves from China, Gampi, a wild shrub that grows in Japan, cotton, abaca from the inner stalk of the banana plant, papyrus form a friend’s garden. I work backwards so that I only have a feeling for what will be revealed which is similar to printing from an etching plate. I trained as a printmaker and studied with Stanley William Hayter at his world famous Atelier 17 in Paris . When I returned to the US and wended my way west I was introduced to monotype by Joe Zirker and Nathan Oliveira.