In the late-summer of 2019, as I was walking along the Schuylkill River in Fairmount Park, the idea of August Abandonment came to me. The two words encapsulated the feeling of change – the shifting of time – that often goes unnoticed most days, which was spurred on by summer fading into fall. My evening walks were becoming chillier. Heat stroked tulip poplar trees were dropping their leaves in abundance. The world appeared more golden than green with every passing moment. My acuteness to the world around me started to find itself in the art I was making. Over the next two years, I taught myself how to make inks from foraged plant materials, I learned more about the plants and animals that are native to Pennsylvania and explored entirely new ways of image making. I kept the words August Abandonment written down in a sketchbook, hoping to return to them eventually, when the time was right — and that time is now!
My mini solo show titled August Abandonment opens at Sabbatical Beauty on Friday, May 6th - June 3rd in the Bok Building. Curated by my friend Megan Wirick, this collection of artworks encompasses two years of grief, reflection and anxiety that has weaved through my everyday life. The eight works included in the exhibition contain iconography that is representative of the people and places that I hold dear. Dogwoods by the River and Dead Nettle Moon speak to spring, when the world begins to flower and green again. Icons like the fish in Trout Season and the butterfly in You’re Always with Me, represent memories of lost loved ones. My works dance between the past and present - which is why Fraktur Portal #4 and Fraktur Portal #6 exist. Inspired by PA German Folk Art (my late grandmother was PA German), these vegetal portals connect the world of the living to the spiritual.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to ACCT Philly.