Artist Statement

Wood grain is a physical record of cosmic rhythm. Time, weather, gravity, seasons, the rotation of the earth — these are the forces that have slowly inscribed themselves into matter. To follow that grain with a brush is to integrate the self into the whole — something far older and larger than the individual. This is both act and expression. I call this practice Cosmic Rhythm.
As the medium that carries this record, I work primarily with reclaimed wood gathered from the streets. Each piece carries its own form, its cracks, its scars — quiet evidence of an unknown life lived nearby. I wash it, and bring it back as art. By weaving into the work elements of ukiyo-e and iwa-enogu mineral pigments, I am reflecting an identity that living abroad has made newly visible to me. I also work with chameleon and phosphorescent pigments — the work shifts dramatically depending on how it is seen.
At the foundation of this practice is the Law of Dependent Origination, as taught by Shakyamuni — the understanding that all things exist through mutual relationship. It connects also to wabi-sabi, ichigo-ichie, and Ko-Shinto — the aesthetics and spirit that run deep in Japanese culture.
Nature and humanity. Past and future. The individual and the whole. All of it, one.