Many of us are immigrants, whether we have relocated states or journeyed across oceans. In our minds and bodies we carry traces of the special places we left behind - emotional and physical remnants of ‘home’ that we thread in and out of new identities we weave for ourselves.
The sea has always felt like home to me, and the oceans an essential life force, connecting the coast of California where I now live, the tip of Africa where I was born and the Irish land of my ancestors. I explore the multiple realities of myself through my art, working in several mediums, painting, monotypes, photography, often combining two or all three simultaneously. I relish both the element of surprise and the challenge of mixed media. The process also aligns snugly with my exploration of differing realities.
My most recent work is focused on the seawater, the sea sand and the diverse realities that coexist in the liminal zone where the two meet. Entitled ’SanToriaBay’, it is a metaphor for my own personal narrative of emigration and transformation. The art installation itself exists somewhere between painting and sculpture, and as such, seems to exist in a liminal zone all of its own.