This body of work represents a communal self-portrait that reconnects everyday life to the sacred as an act of nonviolent, socio-political resistance. My area of research involves the discovery and release of feminine traumas and spiritual moments inspired by a healing sisterhood of indigenous ceremonies and practices, ancient symbols, and concepts of meditation.
 

At 18, my life was altered by sexual assault. My wounded spirit embraced art making and entered my first Native American inipi- beginning a life journey of healing in many ways including these ancient, sacred, spiritual disciplines. I formally pursue my work, 'bringing my body into the picture,' to visually translate, document and reinterpret the history of my ancestors through a personal, contemporary context. The bell shape symbol in my work, represents the female womb or inipi and is a stylized version of a simplistic yet complex, Mesoamerican glyph called tepetl (sacred place).

 

Employing these symbols, I recall the sacred essence within the female and inipi, a ceremonial interpretation of mother earth womb. The fusion of these symbols in my work speaks of the need for community healing ceremonies and practices.