“It is this miraculous palingenesis, this apparent return from the dead, that the casual encounter with stray objects can trigger in our hearts, those bivalve organs in whose cloistered interior experiences settle like grains of sand or parasites in oysters. These audacious intruders are then slowly enveloped by their receptacle’s vital fluids – here nacre, there emotion – eventually producing a smooth, shiny pearl, a unique amalgam of interior and exterior whose birth celebrates the fusion of fixed and fluid, isolated and continuous, dejected, and splendid: such are veritable fruits of the bottom of the sea. These magnificent creations are what connect us to our innermost nature…”

Celeste Olalquiaga (1998, 6-7)

As a visual artist, I am interested in the relationship between femininity and the natural world within female gothic and surrealist contexts. Through multi-disciplinary studio inquiry, I seek out feminine narratives ranging from the beautiful, sublime, and monstrous. Integral to this inquiry is physical and theoretical engagement with the concepts of layering and found imagery, and objects.

Palingenesis is a concept of rebirth or re-creation used within philosophy, theology, politics, and biology. Within the context of my practice, I am interested in palingenesis as a means of reconfiguring and reintroducing the female form to spaces that have historically been coded masculine or claimed by masculine presence.