Head of Eirene Print

My restless, chaotic soul found its commensurate rhythm the first moment my feet landed on the streets of the city in 2015, after many long years in the white-washed suburbs of America, rebelling at the idea of the traditional role of a woman. The beat of each step echoed the pace at which my thoughts charged through my mind and the energy of people and the richness of their cultures. Endorphins soared with each scene I encountered, adding to the enormity of questions I already had about the world and its people. These fleeting images, caught in a split-second by the shutter of my camera, fed my energy and sense of curiosity. My paintings are snapshots of momentary expressions. They take the form of collage comprising acrylic paint and old negatives, specifically made in the darkroom of Meredith College in Raleigh, NC from which I received my BFA, and during my time in San Francisco and St. Louis using methods including photo transfer and cyanotype. My works are unmeditated--born out of intuition, primal instinct. Thick strokes of color from a pallet knife echo the process of my mind trying to soothe itself as the unsolicited unearthing of emotional and psychological residue from decades of eating disorders, alcoholism, and the body fetishism of the 1980’s in a patriarchal southern culture; the endless searching for comfort by beating down, hiding away, drowning. Each brushstroke momentarily nullifies a thought, but in an instant as quick as the shutter of my camera, I am confronted with another thought, another restless moment to be soothed again. What eventually surfaces on the canvas is a manifestation of subconscious thoughts and feelings, invariably leaving me astonished at the accurate reflection of this inner world.