These works were generated from personal experience and observation. Since I was a child I have had a certain affinity for interior spaces. I was fascinated by the paths of hot Texas sunlight that bleached the rooms in our house. The ominous dark corners and hallways of evening intrigued me. I found my own private worlds at play in the closet, under tents made from dining room chairs and old sheets, or laying beneath the kitchen table during long, adult conversations.

I observed a great many contradictions about the role of women in these domestic spaces. Messages were conflicting. The matriarchs of my family were strong minded and accomplished (often in areas which were not considered to be women’s territory at the time), yet their days were filled with “woman’s work.” Their strengths were well concealed within the outward trappings of a “good” wife and mother.

Growing older I gained an interest in the complexities of human relationships. As I studied them and looked inward, I became intrigued by the patterns of communication we develop from our subconscious observations as children. I recall that while playing under the table as a child, I had an awareness of covert expressions of anger, double entendres and innuendoes that were communicated in the space between steaming cups of coffee above me. I may not have listened to or comprehended a word, but my unconscious senses were awakened to the emotions that spilled over the edges of the table to my world.

Feelings of fear, love, mistrust and guilt as well as role expectations can be communicated and received quite subtly. I attempt to express in my work these subtleties of communication within the context of my past interiors. My “domestic landscapes” are autobiographical narratives which depict aspects of memory, psychologically charged interiors and the portraiture of specific objects from these memories and places. I call on the askew realism of dreams and the imaginative realm of the child’s mind to manipulate the representation of specific images from my memory. I produce unfamiliar environments from the familiar with dramatic “film noir” lighting, odd color usage and the baroque distortion of western perspective. Most of the situations are drawn from a low vantage point – a “child’s eye view.” 
Pulling images from memory has  interesting and unexpected effects on the directions these works. In attempting to depict aspects of memory, I create elements of distortion, simultaneous viewpoints and symbolic imagery of my childhood; tricycles, coffee cups, paper airplanes, lit and unlit candles, dominoes and other adult game pieces. These symbols in my paintings are usually the most specific visual queues that trigger memories, whereas the interiors are composites of individual details of various spaces; lighting effects, wall papers, door knobs, shag carpet,  tile, etc

I refer to the still lifes from this series as ‘Domestic Effects’. The personal ‘effects’ of those we love and interact with have significance for me. These objects can trigger memories charged with a vast array of emotions. In some instances even stand as a metaphor for a specific relationship.

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