Describe your style in one sentence:
Mysteriously beautiful, eerily dream-like and whimsically magical.
Your artwork seems rife with metaphor and meaning. Can you share a bit about the piece and how you conceived of it:
For my most recent show, I was looking for characters that entered a deep fantastical sleep, so that is how I chose Snow White. All the meaning came to me and made sense after I finished the piece: Snow White has taken a bite of the apple and fallen into a deep ocean of sleep. She is about to be awakened – she turns from the darkness and faces the light. The seven dwarves are the clownish creatures. The dragonfly also symbolizes going past self-created illusions that limit our growing and changing.
Who are your creative influences?
Tim Burton, Walt Disney, Hayao Miyazaki, Gustav Klimt, Harry Clarke. Also vintage photography, music, literature, animation, theater and silent films.
Why do you weave fairy tales into your work?
There is so much wisdom in these stories and their symbolism is still relevant today. They give me a foundation of communication over which to build my mad, imaginary worlds. They are part of my own personal mythology, so I use them to give meanings to the characters in my paintings too.
What’s your process in creating a piece of art?
My ideas begin in words, which I list out. I review the list and usually settle on an idea worth painting from there. Then I do an image search where I look for a photograph that gives off the “essence” of the main character that I wish to paint. Next is the drawing which is a blueprint for the painting. I create that on tracing paper. Then I transfer the drawing onto a maple panel using a chalk-carbon paper. I gesso my panel and paint away with my acrylics, choosing my color palette as I paint.
What’s the first picture you can remember drawing as a child?
I remember making these silly but sincere drawings of the people around me, especially of me and my sister. There was a dress-up/pretend feel to them – I would draw us in costumes, in scenes outside of our existence. The people I drew had strange and creepy faces.
If your art was music, what would it sound like?
A symphony of some kind, with maddening clashes, but also lilting strains and melodies, soaring airs and haunting refrains. It would have to be narrative so lyrics would need to be in there too somehow.
What music is rotating on your iPod?
Old Civil War songs, Irish ballads, Bob Dylan’s Bootleg series, Kate Bush, Tom Waits, Appalachian music, classical music, but most of all podcasts.
What things have you seen recently that are going to inspire a piece of art?
Going to my first ever classical music concert, reading the fairy tales of E.T.A. Hoffman and vintage photographs on Flickr.
What’s the most unusual canvas you’ve painted on?
A hollowed out log of wood, a miniature recycling bin and a vinyl toy.
What is your favorite color?
Naphthol crimson. It always plays well with others and is perhaps the only color that doesn’t like to give me a hard time.
What’s the best compliment you’ve had to your art?
I make art because I don’t think I communicate who I am very well with words. I’m simply thrilled to hear any positive feedback on my work. To see that someone is moved by my work is like getting a hug.
Could you share three unique things in your work space that inspire you?
How about one that is worth three? The view outside my window is an amazing eucalyptus forest, with hundreds of monarch butterflies in the wintertime. There is also a red-tailed hawk nest and I can see the birds take flight without having to get up from my chair. It’s absolutely unbelievable.
Who are three artists whose work you admire?
Mark Ryden, James Jean, Tim Burton – contemporary.
Vermeer, Peter Paul Rubens, Da Vinci – old masters.
What art do you have on your walls?
I don’t hang art on my walls, but I print out all my reference and have art books all around me. Right now I have book on Ray Caesar, Audrey Kawasaki, Sylvia Ji and Greg Simkins.
Can you describe your computer?
24” iMac. Sweeney Todd is on my desktop.
Could you share something about yourself that makes you blush!:
Fortunately for you, I don’t have an image to share, but I think most of the art I produced in my high school days is pretty shameful and cruelly embarrassing.
If you had to change careers, what would be next?
Something to do with theater or directing short animated films.
Are there any upcoming shows or projects you’d like to share?
I have group shows in February, March, April, and May. Then I’ll have eight pieces at Corey Helford Gallery in July, and a project room solo at Ad Hoc Art in October. For details just check my homepage.
Mia
