The Glorious Way She Moves
The Glorious Way She Moves explores the fullness and depth of the female form from youthful innocence to glorious maturity. These dynamic, moving portraits illustrate the exuberance and individuality of each muse I celebrate and symbolically exemplify the self-esteem that women exude as they move through their lives and the world.
In my process, I video record each woman dancing, then jump to the film’s individual frames to capture my subjects’ unique character. I paint whole-body multiple-image portraits of women from diverse age groups and economic backgrounds, bringing them into a magnified view that recognizes them as multi-faceted human beings. By doing this I experience a connection to their beauty without stereotyping. It is that connection I share in my work.
As an artist of mixed Hispanic and Black ancestry, respecting all races, ethnicities and cultural heritages is important to my daily lived experience, and I strive to represent this in my work. And as a woman, I feel an obligation to use my artistic practice to provide a platform to celebrate women, and for their collective concerns and wishes to build on the progress towards a diverse and thriving community; to be heard and acknowledged; to inspire other women and other people.
By creating a multi-sensory experience, using the vitality of the portraits and the audio recordings, I work to provide the audience a conduit to make individual connections. The women I paint are artists, as teachers, in technology, in medicine, in business, and often simultaneously are mothers, caregivers, and even students. They can inspire us through their hopes, life passions and achievements, by the way they overcome personal struggles, and through their self-healing practices. My goal is to foster feelings of solidarity between the women who are my muses and the viewer, and to provide examples of women demonstrating that joy and strength are possible even in the most challenging of times.