I come from a family of artists and I started learning to draw around the age of five. There is a long tradition of art and craft in my family, something the women on both sides of my family have passed down to me through artifacts and practice. I have paintings by great aunts and blankets crocheted by my grandmother. Continuing that tradition keeps me connected to my family and their history in this place I call home.
My art work has always been about storytelling and uncovering hidden connections. My current work focuses on the relationships between various organisms in an ecosystem, with a particular focus on threatened, endangered, and charismatic species. I am especially interested in exploring where land use and landscape-level conservation efforts meet the recovery requirements of endangered species.
Why “7 Ravens”?
I represent the 7th generation of my family to live in the collection of ecosystems we call California. Though I claim ownership of no part of it, California is everything I am. 7 is a curious and powerful number – showing up in cultural traditions all over the world. 7 orients us to the past and the present – back 7 generations and forward 7 generations – and speaks to our responsibilities to both preceding and forthcoming ancestors.
Ravens are my constant companions – they seem to show up wherever I am, a testament to their adaptability in the face of human pressures. I’m enamored with the blue-purple sheen of their feathers and their wide range of vocalizations. Ravens are smart, creative, curious – all things I strive to be.