The overwhelming statement that my artistic work should suggest to a viewer is movement.  I desire to express myself through dancing, but my disability limits me from moving about the way that I would like. Instead, I use my God-given gift of painting to demonstrate my desire to live life with no physical restrictions.

 

I have always been interested in body movement, but it was a dance recital at Western Michigan University that inspired me to create my first dance-focused expressionistic painting. From then on I became a student of how the body moves and emotes. I used all types of movement in my research including walking, running, swimming, and skydiving. I even recorded my own movements and discovered my own rhythms.

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Now when I paint, I choose bright colors and broad and sweeping motions with my paint brush to transfer that feeling of movement onto the canvas.  In my artistic work, I can move freely about without limitations.

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As someone with a disability, movement impacts me on a daily basis. My artwork is a way for me to express how I would move if I could do so freely and uninterrupted. On canvas I can run, walk, jump, and I can dance without being bound by physical limitations. In that way, the paint brush is an extension of me.