My art is a cathartic indulgence. It allows me to examine, express--and in some instances purge--the memories, attitudes and emotions attached to a life history that has been touched by abusive relationships, rape, and marital violence.

An important theme of my work is my personal reflection on the development of my own identity. Especially salient now is how that identity incorporates the struggles and surprises that accompany a woman as she ages; the struggle to accept the sags, wrinkles, gray hair, and all the other ways that aging impacts her physical, sexual, mental, and emotional life.  

For more than 50 years I have lived the various identities that others had expected or created. Maybe looking at 60 is what ultimately allows me to say, “This is me. If you don't like it, fuck you.” This was the surprise for me—the realization that I could say this after so many years of being afraid to stand up for myself.

My artwork is a critically important part of my life. Although I create the work for me, my hope is that others can share in the strength, healing, and optimism that it embodies; that other women won't take 50 years to learn to say, “This is me. If you don't like it, fuck you.”