Artist Statement
Field report: Artist stopping to smell the roses (self-observation)
Date: July 2026
Site/location: Brooklyn, NY
First impressions:
I observed an artist walking her dog at a leisurely pace. Every block or so she stops for one of two reasons: To take a picture of a flower or to consider if she should collect an item from the trash (n.b. In local terms this practice is called “stooping”). She primarily collected second hand canvases, scraps of wood and reusable fabric, but once I observed her collect a large easel.
Later, I observed her in her studio. The studio walls were bright green from baseboard to ceiling, and well adorned with art (mostly her own, some collected). She was working on a painting much larger than her existing work. She started with broad strokes and sharpened the subject with detail. Nearby there were tubes of acrylic, acrylic gouache and oils, and stacks of books about art. Her dog and cat were asleep on the couch. She appeared to be at ease and content, enjoying the process.
Many of her recent paintings were of flower references collected on her walks around the city and from her trip to Guatemala. I also observed paintings of medical items (pill bottles, neurology tools), and abstract watercolors. There were also several plein air landscapes from a recent trip to upstate NY.
Conclusions:
Contrary to NYC’s reputation as ‘the city that never sleeps’, I saw an artist cultivating a slower pace of life even in a bustling city. Like her flowering subjects, this artist insists on existing here—as a queer artist living with chronic illness. She is refining her skills through her representational paintings, but some of her work nods at something deeper. Worth continued observation.
CV
Select Exhibitions
- 2026 Unmoored/Unbound, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition and Powerhouse Arts (Juried by Eric Shiner), Brooklyn, NY
- 2026 Toe Dip / Cannonball, Museum of This That and The other, Portland, OR
- 2025-26 Lift off, Saturn Road, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, NY
- 2025 Camp Spark Residency Exhibition (Curated by Sari Shryack and Leah Alexander), virtual
- 2025 Paint the Town Green; It’s The Hattie Carthan’s Way, Magnolia Tree Earth Center (Curated by Fulton Art Fair), Brooklyn, NY
- 2024 Grow In BedStuy; It’s The Hattie Carthan’s Way, Magnolia Tree Earth Center and Herbert Von King Cultural Arts Center, Brooklyn, NY
Residencies
- 2026 Studio Luce, El Paredón, Guatemala
- 2025 Camp Spark Artist Residency (with Sari Shryack, Not Sorry Art)