Fueled by nature.

Science, art and nature have been the interests and sources of energy for my career and life. From Biology major at Pomona College, I transitioned into the world of graphic design and advertising in Los Angeles. At the same time I started climbing rocks and mountains with the Sierra Club and backpacking every summer in the Eastern Sierra.

For 15 years I was a full time Editorial Graphic Artist at the Los Angeles Times. I won a Pulitzer Crystal for the series “Altered Oceans” in 2007, a result of two years of research. Science graphics was my specialty along with many other assignments, such as 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Olympics, and daily news coverage.

Driven by years of observing, I began an art practice in 2015. The extreme conditions in California, landscape variations are all present here: high and low deserts, 14,000 foot mountains, coastal habitats, vast deltas, agriculture on a massive scale, and concentrated urban areas.

The work is based on my scientific knowledge of the natural world and data driven images, along with an abstract use of dirt and artifacts of human impact on wilderness. California acts as a metaphor for future global impacts on climate change because it is a world biodiversity hotspot. The major threats are: population pressures, loss of habitat, unsustainable resource use, and introduced non-native species. My painting Waterfall indexically references desert dirt and stenciled galvanized water pipes, evoking the California drought.

The extreme weather of climate change is only going to increase in the coming years, challenging our antiquated infrastructure. This paradox drives my engagement with California as mystery and metaphor. Acrylics, oils, image transfer, satellite photography and data mapping all play into my perceptions of landscape.