Inner struggles fought on paper

As an MFA candidate at the Florida Atlantic University, I began in figurative
painting and ended with abstract ink and pencil drawings in my thesis work. In between
was a progression of artistic experimentation in theme, technique and medium to explore
issues of female identity and childhood sexual abuse. From a girl trapped in a dark
fairytale to a pregnant woman followed by a pedophile to a new mother frustrated that
her own ambitions have been usurped, the final transformation of female identity into
fierce protector came after confronting memories of child abuse. Using India ink and pencil drawings, my thesis work recreates scenes of a struggle between the same attacker and a powerful mother. She spins her own hair into a delicate, but powerful, barrier that keeps her daughter safe.