Photo Credit: Paula Champagne (Instagram @makerchamp)
Why did you decide to become an artist?
I’ve always had a creative streak - writing has been my passion since I was very young. I’ve dabbled in other forms of expression with origami, sculpting, papercutting etc. It wasn’t until after the 2016 election that painting became the anchor of my creative practice and a launch point for becoming a professional artist. It began with my own intense need for healing and a non-verbal way of integrating my experiences in the midst of that singular moment. Creative expression as a form of healing-activism at that time was one of many stories in my work that resonated powerfully with folx.
Tell us about some other jobs you have had other than being an artist.
I was trained primarily as a scientist. I worked in the pharmaceutical industry and even went to med school but ultimately I needed to return to the Valley for health reasons, both my own and in my family. For the last 15+ years, I’ve been the lab manager for the sciences at Hampshire College. I worked as a night manager at a homeless shelter, worked in a bakery, some editing and graphic design work, and taught English in Vietnam at age 17. Needless to say, I love to learn new things. But I also have a neurodiverse brain that I’m still figuring out...
How has the COVID-19 outbreak and quarantine affected your process/creating/teaching? Has anything surprised you about adjusting to this quarantine?
I have a lot to be thankful for, a lot of privilege in how I navigate these quarantine times - I can work from home and protect my dad who is at high risk. I can stay safe myself. I get to be with my family, my dog, and get outside without too much fear of exposure. But there’s a lot to navigate emotionally and financially. This moment is full of trauma and grief and uncertainty for all of us to varying degrees. I take it a breath at a time. And I remember my core principle: to love and be loved. The rest can be rebuilt around that.
What are you currently working on?
My latest project, Creative Resilience, is based on a creative engagement dialogue I designed for talking about wellness and identity. The larger project takes these and expands them into various public art interventions where the art pieces created in the dialogues provide unique opportunities for collective healing and connection, especially now through the grief and shared trauma of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
I’m also finishing a collaborative art piece with Diana Alvarez using the lyrics to her song “Queer Love Song”. The print will be showcased June 19th at the Dwellings Arts event “Poet in the Water” at the Shea Theater.
Where can we find your work?
Instagram: @scifilens
The Rand Theater at UMass Fine Arts Center has four of my latest (and largest) pieces - a series made for the theatrical production “Water Station”, with special thanks to Vishnupad Barve, Tatiana Godfrey and Harley Erdman.
I’m putting together a show for September at the Northampton Center for the Arts. It will be a Creative Resilience project-based installation relevant to our collective and individual COVID-19 trauma and resilience. I plan to incorporate a contemplative practice element.
My studio is on 80 Race Street in Holyoke, on Agawam, Nipmuck and Pocumtuc land.