Fine Arts Faculty

She is a co-author of the historic survey Buildings of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania East and the author of The State as a Work of Art: Design, Technology and Social Reform (1876-1917), Violet Oakley: American Renaissance Women, "Bella, Cara Emilia": The Italianate Romance of Emily Sartain and Thomas Eakins, Natural Laws: The Literary and Artistic Roots of American Environmentalism, and Lux ex tenebris: Étienne-Louis Boullée's Cenotaph for Sir Isaac Newton. She received her doctorate in the History of Art from Bryn Mawr College and her bachelor's degree from Moore College of Art and Design. A practicing artist, her painting Search and Rescue is on the Artists' Registry of the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Artist Statement

Today the grotesque is associated with the horrific, the repulsive, the ugly, and the distorted. Our society craves disfiguration, evidenced by deformed rubber Halloween masks, tales of monsters, both real and imaginary, and the proliferation of horrific acts by characters in film and literature. However, the grotesque once described an ornamental style of Renaissance painting that embodied not the ugly, but the beautiful. In conjunction with the grotesque’s historical aesthetic, I explore contrasting ideas such as beauty/ugliness, representation/abstraction, order/disorder, and the poetic/horrific, as well as the connection between mythological hybrid beasts, character masks in contemporary films, and the tragic comedies of the Commedia dell'arte.

The main objective of my work employs this method through distortion, transformation, dark humor, absurdity, contrasting color palettes, and the play between positive and negative space. I specifically abstract representational forms through repetition, symmetry, and change in orientation, transforming the shapes from their original context. Similar to the Rorschach test and Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm shift theory, the shapes are interchangeable, shifting between two or more forms, forever in a state of flux. Oftentimes, the imagery is overtly apparent, resembling certain icons found in popular culture and nature, while other times they are more concealed.

In addition, the symmetrical compositions of my work, titled Grotesque Series, echo the grotesquefrescoes found within early Renaissance paintings and the Neronian grottoes. The symmetry also challenges the Vitruvian ideal of symmetry as beauty and purity. By exploiting these situations through the juxtaposition of opposites, I hope to incite ideas that blur the boundaries between fact and fiction, and between beauty and ugliness.

Artist Statement

Exploration, quiet reflection and response are critical to my artistic process.  Through this process I create images that are representations of my journey. My work has become an autobiography. With each drawing and painting, a daily record of life is created.

Artist Statement

(The Ugly Beautiful)

This series of work is an ongoing exploration of a number of places that I have visited while working in New York City, Philadelphia and throughout the Northeast. While working in the scenic department in New York City, as well as working as a conservator in Pennsylvania and surrounding states, I was able to explore areas that were off limits to the general public. The Brooklyn Navy Yard and Admire Row in the compound of Fort Totten, the Domino Sugar Factory, as well as the Lowes Theater in Brooklyn were just a few places that I have had the pleasure of documenting with my sketchbook and camera. I have also explored a number of buildings in South Philly as well as the neighborhood of Fishtown. I have taken images during my travels to cities and states like Pittsburgh, Virginia, Chicago, and Ohio. These buildings that were once vibrant with activity are now abandoned or on a smaller scale of capacity.

I am fascinated with how these spaces have weathered over time and the beauty that they withhold. These abandoned spaces are now a mere reflection of their past. What draws me to them initially are the facades of the buildings. Some of these structures have a haunting presence that is hard to ignore. I find myself mesmerized by the monumental scale as well as intrigue of what’s inside. The boarded up windows and doors only heightens that intrigue. I feel that I am not alone in this endeavor. I find that I strike up conversations very quickly when people see my work and they are familiar with the structure that I am painting; either they have passed it on their way to work everyday or it’s a staple of their community. They feel that it’s a monument of the past and an iconic symbol of its community. I find out from many people, whether they’ve lived in the neighborhood their entire life or for just a few years, that they want to preserve these buildings as a reminder of their identity of the past and for future generations to have a link to what once was. I can’t stress how important these structures are for me personally. I would love to see some type of history remain in these areas so that there’s a visual and historic understanding of what made the areas so unique to begin with as well as preserving the genetic makeup of the ethnic culture and original purpose of the structures that once was a vital fabric to the overall function of the cities and way of life there.

Viewers are always wanting to know about these structures and if I have ever ventured inside. For example, the paintings “Pocket Door,” “Fort,” and “Corner Studio” are all examples of interiors that pose the question of what else is in the building. They have a strong impact on the viewer by the composition and how the light is penetrating throughout the space and the use of contrast from very dark and ominous corners to pockets of light revealing the beauty of decay. This is also relative in the narrative images that I have created. There’s a drama that is present by how the figures occupy the space. This is not always intentional. The figure naturally takes the attention of the viewer and creates an overall drama and mood.

At a time when clean and new are very welcomed by most, my eyes once again are drawn to the ugly beautiful; the spaces that have character and a reflection of the past. Time is often dismissed in these spaces. It’s a quietness that transcends to the viewer. A moment of stillness that is powered by the light, the structural elements of the spaces, and the additional props and color palette also contribute. I find that these images have an energy that needs time to adjust. Similar to when you enter a space on a bright sunny day and your eyes are in shock because of the extreme contrast from light to dark. I find that these paintings need the full attention of the viewer so that the time and space around it can truly breathe so the raw patinas and textures that give the painting balance can begin to be appreciated.

Artist Statement

When I was very young, I remember laying in the grass on a lazy summer day, spending hours picking out the vivid images I saw in the clouds floating overhead. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was the beginning of a life-long intrigue with pattern and texture; and my ability to recognize objects in unrelated natural formations. There is something in my subconscious that allows my mind to perceive these otherwise unrecognizable images as clear and distinct.

I continue to explore patterns and texture in my paintings, photographs and digital art creations. An avid birdwatcher and lover of the outdoors, I draw inspiration for my work from nature.

Artist Statement

I have been working with remnants (found objects) including welded steel and other mixed media works. My interest in based on physical attraction to the material as well as intrigue with the materials history both long and short term. While some of the materials had specific use and contain a more transparent past others are more mysterious. I am attracted to items that have an immediate past like remnants from a meal as well as objects that invoke nostalgia and a longer history.

I would like the audience to take a closer look at what is recycled or thrown away and consider its beauty, whether a piece of steel from the junk yard or packing material from a newly received package. I have found intrigue and beauty in the banal – objects and material that I believe are often overlooked in a hurry-up and technologically controlled society, one that demands immediate satisfaction.