Emerge

48”h x 47”w

Original mural: Acrylic & Resin on MDO panel

Hanger free, can be customized to fit any hanger or framing system. Weatherized for and ready for indoor or outdoor display.

Artist Statement: Capturing contrasting colors with a contemporary Prussian horse emerging stoically and staring at the viewer, “The Emergence of Grace”, showcases the the beauty of the horse with the dynamism of colors in resin. This piece is a play on color for the viewer and hopes to submerge the viewer in a sense of play. This piece is an emergence of both horse and artist to the delights of nature and color.

4’ x 8’ diptych

Original mural: Acrylic & mixed media on MDO panel

Hanger free and customizable for any hanging or framing system. Weatherized and suitable for indoor or outdoor display.

Artist Statement: My concept for the Emerge mural has to do with personal identity and individuality emerging from a crowd. I’ve explored these themes partially in numerous pieces in the past, but with this mural I wanted to combine, enhance and develop the idea more specifically. The two main panels of the mural depict a crowd, seeking shelter from a rain under their umbrellas. Although the crowd is unified in their desire for shelter, the individuals are not connected, only overlap, each with his or her own agenda and attitude. Each person is clearly unique, but in the rush and anonymity of the crowd that sense of identity can be lost.

Against this backdrop, I have imposed two individual portraits on the piece, projected away from the back panels and out from the shelter of the umbrellas, seemingly emerging from the crowd. The identities of these two people are presented as compositions of colors, charms, layers and patterns. Each portrait is constructed of 20 panels assembled together, each panel displaying varying layers of color. We are defined by these collections of layers, and also by the small items that we identify as meaningful to ourselves. Each panel has a small charm attached to it, representative of these things that we gather and hold close, little markers of what we care about and who we are. For the woman’s portrait I chose a lighter color palate for the final overlay of color, offsetting the darker underpainted squares below.

I also chose unexpected charms to define the woman depicted by the piece, exemplifying that who we are is not defined by what people expect of us. The other portrait features an image of a man, painted in a cooler and darker color scheme than the woman in the companion portrait. Again, the charms attached to the panels are often unexpected, at times defining the man in ways at odds with traditional symbols of masculinity. What is expected of us is not who we are, and that complexity that we hold close to ourselves, and show to the world, defines how we emerge from the crowd as unique, distinctive and complete individuals.

4’h x 8’w

Original Mural: High flow acrylic on MDO panel

Hanger free and customizable for any hanging or framing system. Weatherized and suitable for indoor and outdoor display.

Artist Statement: Dear Missoula, This work is big and in downtown Missoula, so many people may see it. What do I want to say to everyone? What do I want to be emerging from this work? The first thing that occurred was “bodhicitta”*, which in my mind was this expansive heart feeling with everyone having it. “Bodhichitta” translates to “awakened heart-mind”. Then I thought about what artworks really bring me is the feeling of joy, an uplifting and lightness. The Dance by Matisse is one. It’s a single ring of dancers suspended in blue; it is inscribing the structure of the mural with infinity and life. After that I consulted with my cast of animal and human characters to see who would go where with whom and what all they wanted to be doing, going, or being. So you see, I put into my work both the cosmic and the super personal subjective experience of a dance in a Georgia summer night when your friends switch from tea to grape juice. Not to mention the questions of morality, mortality, birth-aging-illness-and- death, along with a host of memories and characters with opinions - who are mentally engaging with books, cartoons, and stories that people tell me about carrying sleeping chickens who coo cutely. Expanding and contracting, cosmic and microcosm - it is all one thing. We’re in this together and it’s going to be okay.

48”h x 47”w

Mural Print: Colored pencil reprinted on aluminum composite

Hanger free and customizable for any hanging or framing system. Weatherized print and suitable for indoor or outdoor display.

Artist Statement: Blessed are Those who Overcome the Harshest Realities was woefully inspired by the trials America has experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the burgeoning income inequality gap, and the grave reality that ours is a nation built on the foundations of white supremacy and colonization, all visually represented by nature that evokes resiliency and adaptability. This piece serves as an epitaph to the lives lost to Covid, and is a grim reminder of the harsh realities still facing our country. The focal point, three black bear skulls haloed by a gold ring, represents the 300,000 American lives lost to the COVID-19 virus, the number when I first conceived this piece. We have since lost an additional 186,000 Americans in the time it took me to complete it.

The Faberge eggs within the bears jaws represent the fragile tension caused because of the United States obsession with its wealth, status, and patriotism over its most vulnerable citizens. The eggs dripping in teardrop pearls as if the skulls are salivating, craving the sustenance such treasures and societal equality could provide. Adorned with bejeweled target diadems made from pearl chains and accented by tear drop pearls, represent the tears wept for those unfairly targeted with malice for the color of their skin. The tears wept for the loss of so many during this terrible pandemic. The starry sky depicting the Drinking Gourd constellation reflects the still present journey our country faces in changing the status quo to a more equitable future for all of America's citizens. The asterism Draco; guardian of the garden containing the golden apples in the trials of Hercules, an allegorical reminder of the treasures we gain in overcoming adversity. In the end this piece is ultimately a prayer for all of humankind; may we emerge from this hour of darkness resilient and equal.

48”h x 47”w

Mural print: Mixed media collage (resin, acrylic paint, marker, gold leaf) based off a historical photo from the Flathead Reservation, reprinted on aluminum composite

Hanger free and customizable for any hanging or framing system. Weatherized print suitable for indoor or outdoor display.

Art Statement: When thinking about the theme of “Emerge” my mind wandered, as it often does, to the story of the Bitterroot Salish. The Salish- after heated negotiations, forged documents, and outright fraud were removed from their ancestral homes in the Missoula and Bitterroot valleys and were forced to move to the Flathead Reservation via the US Government. Once on the Reservation the members of the newly formed Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes had to forge a new existence. Some of the old traditions and old ways remained, but the Tribes also were forced to navigate life in ways that were vastly different than what they had known before. Those ancestors and relatives created a new way of being in the face of unprecedented obstacles and extreme pressures. The decisions that they made then created the culture and resilience that we see today. While there are no comparisons that can be made regarding hardships encountered during the Reservation Era to this time period, I believe that there are lessons that can be learned. Due to many factors (Corona Virus, racial injustice, access to healthcare etc.) our society is under stress. Due to these stressors, it has become apparent that some of the old systems and ways of being may no longer be possible for us to continue to use. In a parallel to the experience of the Tribes after Removal, we are being compelled to decide what parts of our society need to change for us to survive and which parts we should fight to preserve. Essentially, we are in a moment where we must “emerge” into what we will become. In homage to the experience of the Bitterroot Salish, Native American people in general, and the experience we are living in today, I created the painting Journey. Journey depicts a group of Salish people leaving the area around Hellgate Canyon (Sncxlmnwextn) ready to emerge in a new destination.

48”h x 47”w

Mural Print: Digital collage reprinted on aluminum composite

Hanger free and suitable for any customized hanging or framing system. Weatherized print and suitable for indoor or outdoor display.

Artist Statement: The intent behind Sugarloaf was not some deep conceptual contemplation, but rather an aesthetic one. Snapshots from various Montana adventures and everyday life culminated in a digital impressionism as a result of photoshopping pictures and then vectorizing the final image. The main focus of this work comes from a drive up to the trailhead for Gem and Baker Lakes outside of Darby, MT. This view in particular showcases Sugarloaf Peak soaking up evening rays in the southern Bitterroot Valley, emerging from its typical mundanity into a spectacle of the sublime.

4’h x 8’w

Mural Print: Photograph reprinted on aluminum composite

Hanger free and customizable for any hanging or framing system. Weatherized print that is suitable for indoor or outdoor display.

Artist Statement- Erin was photographed in her eighth month of pregnancy. She is under water and lit by custom built underwater flashes. The photo is captured from above the water and has minimal post processing applied. The suspension in liquid of the model and fabrics give a soft and ethereal quality to the subject. The distortions and ripples of surface disturbance lend a painterly and expressionistic quality to the image.