I'm eager to present my newly painted animal portraits. Although this series has always focused on individuality, in previous years the works have thematically centered around locations, such as Sonoma County or the Arctic. This year is a little different because I focused on female identity as I developed three portraits of North American animals - Bald Eagle, Mountain Lion, and Black Bear. 

When human women are depicted as strong it is almost always along with sex appeal - the "strong and sexy” cliche - as if female strength and capability are synonymous with sex appeal. The bald eagle, mountain lion, and black bear are all seen as strong animals, at the top of the food chain. When we encounter one we don’t automatically make assumptions about the animal based on its gender. We appreciate their strength, beauty, power and ferocity. 

We marvel at the amazingness of both female and male animals, never questioning their abilities, motives, or intelligence based on gender. So why do we tolerate and accept the gender limitations we impose upon ourselves as humans? By anthropomorphizing these female animals, and giving each a unique identity, I seek to question why our society often struggles to present strength, intelligence and beauty without sexual undertones.

Male dominance in western art, and in particular portraiture, has been a critical element in denying women ownership over our own identity. It also has caused some of the most significant crimes and injustices against women to be ignored, dismissed, or worse glossed over as something entirely different. Sober Jockey confronts this head-on by singling out and reinterpreting Henri Fuseli's, The Nightmare from a female perspective. In doing so it directly confronts issues of violence towards women and the shock, trauma, stress, depression and haunting that so often comes with it. A scene which for so long has been presented and interpreted as a “Nightmare” is now shown to be a reality for the protagonist, as it is of course for so many millions of women.

Sober Jockey will be exhibiting, as part of Art in an Age of Anxiety, at the Arts Guild of Sonoma in Sonoma, California between August 30th through October 1st, 2018. Opening reception Saturday, September 1st, 2018. See Details Here.

Art in an Age of Anxiety
August 30 - October 1, 2018
*Opening reception Saturday, September 1st 5:00pm-7:30pm

Arts Guild of Sonoma
40 E Napa Street
Sonoma, CA 95476
707-996-3115

Open Sun, Mon, Wed, Thurs 11am-5pm
Open Fri & Sat 10am-6pm
Closed Tuesdays

I'm honored to be included in Persistence, an exhibition at the Museum of Northern California Art celebrating and recognizing women artists. "Persistence" has become a byword for women standing up and I'm passionate about promoting the work of female artists past, present, and future. This was my kind of exhibition. 

My painting, Vulva Drain $300, is currently exhibiting at the Sesquehanna Art Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. From the Museum organizers, "the Susquehanna Art Museum will present Identity Spectrum, a juried exhibition in the Lobby Gallery and Vault. As one of the fundamental aspects of personal identity, gender has been examined by artists throughout history. Society is experiencing the increased politicization of identity expression while contemporary boundaries and norms are constantly shifting. Works selected for this exhibition provide unique perspectives on individual expression and the definition of gender, both visually and conceptually." 

Identity Spectrum
May 4 - August 5,

Sesquehanna Art Museum
1401 N 3rd St.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

​Museum Hours:
​Tuesday-Saturday: 10:00am – 5:00pm
Wednesday: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Sunday: 12:00 – 5:00pm

Two of my paintings, Sami American and Sami Reindeer, will be shown in Chico, California at the Museum of Northern California Art, as part of an all women exhibition, highlighting works relating to Persistence. 
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My work explores the complexities of ancestral identity and how it threads together the past, present and future. How can I relate to something that was never mine because it was never passed down in the way of traditions? My portraits contemplate the loss of Sami culture through oppression and my family’s emigration from Finland, as well as, the significance in reconnecting to the land and customs of my ancestors. My pieces are endeavors in understanding what it means to be Sami American.

Persistence
May 31 -July 15

Museum of Northern California Art
900 Esplanade
Chico, California
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Museum Hours:
Thurs-Sunday: 11:00am - 5:00pm

I painted, America: She Was Asking For It ​immediately following the 2016 U.S. presidential election.  A limited edition (edition of 10) print of this work was exhibited and sold at the first Nasty Women exhibition in NYC, 2017. 100% of the proceeds went to Planned Parenthood.

America: She Was Asking For It will be shown in Woodstock, Illinois at the Old Courthouse Arts Center, as part of what the organizers describe as "[an] exhibition [that] focuses on controversial artwork and the power artists have to highlight issues and social causes. This exhibition is an exercise in freedom of speech. The artwork in this exhibition takes a strong moral stance that either depicts intensely personal experiences or reflects and comments on society at large. Some of the work in this exhibition has been censored, or, by nature of the subject matter would be considered illegal in some countries. Art has the power to evoke strong opinions and challenge the viewer to think about a social issues in a new way. We hope you'll join us to engage in different perspectives on hot-topic social issues opening night!" 
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To Be Heard
June 2 - 30

Old Courthouse Arts Center
101 N. Johnson Street 
Woodstock, Illinois

Gallery Hours:
Thursday: 11:00am - 5:00pm
Friday–Saturday: 11:00am - 7:00pm 
Sunday: 11:00am - 5:00pm
Monday–Wednesday: gallery is closed

From blank canvas to a semifinalist in consideration for the 2018 BP Portrait Award; this is the journey of my piece from creation to London and a behind-the-scenes look at my artist life. 

​Last year, I specially made time over the summer to explore new themes in my portraiture. One hot June evening, I glanced at myself in the mirror and something about the lighting, angle, and mood  created an intense inspiration to paint a large self portrait related to my experience as a female. So began my two month journey creating  Reduction (Self Portrait).

 As I began work on my portrait, I had two goals in mind:

1. Create a work representative of my experience as a woman and artist.
2. Create a portrait I felt was worthy of submitting to the BP Portrait Award.

This piece was challenging to create because its meaning existed within me as a collection of memories, experiences and feelings, rather than something easily articulated. In the early stages of my portrait, I came across a poignant quote by John Berger in Ways of Seeing: "Men act and women appear." My mind went to years spent studying art history and the lack of female representation in Western art as it is taught in school and books. Most nudes are female, but most painters of them are male. The male gaze has dominated our understanding and formed our conception of not only the female form, but of a woman’s value, role within society and view of self. I wanted to challenge this.

I used a limited palette of colors because I wanted to focus on the subject matter. This created simplicity and harmony on my canvas. I used warm and cool representations of each primary color, plus titanium white for tinting and toning. 

From more than 7 weeks I obsessively toiled over my painting. Translating my gut feeling into a composition that articulated my experience both as a woman and an artist proved to be a difficult journey that consumed my every waking moment. Furthermore, I had never painted myself at such a large scale, and the concept was complex. It was hard to put my brushes down finally and declare it done because I am a perfectionist and I knew this was one of my most important paintings to date.

I documented the work on the day of the eclipse, August 21, 2017, only it was overcast so there was nothing to see in the sky. However, the overcast conditions made for excellent lighting to document my painting. A short while after photographing the work, I applied to the 2018 BP Portrait Award, but I didn't tell anyone I had applied because it's such prestigious competition, literally the show for the best contemporary portraits in the world, run by the UK's National Portrait Gallery.

​Fast forward to February 9th, 2018 when just as I was checking my phone before heading to my studio to work I saw the word "congratulations"! It was notification that my painting was one of 215 portraits (out of 2667) selected by the curators at the National Portrait Gallery to travel to London for consideration for the exhibition. I was instantly floored-bouncy-hyper-happy-stunned and then after my brief celebration I realized I had about 2 weeks to:

• Frame my portrait
• Acquire a shipping crate made of the right kind of wood (or else bad things happen)
• Arrange to somehow get my BIG painting to the U.K., through customs and delivered within a 5 day window (or else I'm just straight up eliminated)
• and figure out the insanely complicated, ill instructed, bureaucratic paperwork required for temporarily exporting/importing artwork

Not long after I received the good news, and by not long I mean that same morning, I was off to my framer, Hammerfrier. We looked at frame options, but there was only one clear choice and by some miracle we were able to do the impossible; frame up Reduction (Self Portrait) in a beautiful custom gilded frame in a week's time (it should've taken 4+ weeks minimum). The frame was made on the east coast, and shipped west in a crate that was perfect for sending my painting abroad as well. Whew! Thank you so much to Charly and Glenn at Hammerfrier for all your work and support!

After much research I decided to work with FedEx Air Freight. I had a background check for homeland security purposes while setting up my account and then was set to go... filling out a number of forms, applying for licenses, etc... I was both excited and nervous when FedEx arrived - it was scary to hand over my painting, and I had never shipped such a large piece with such a tight window for delivery. Everything was moving along perfectly as I tracked my painting's progress from Healdsburg to Oakland to Memphis and then Stanstead Airport in the UK and then... it just stayed there for hours and then days. I was held up in customs, but after a number of middle of the night calls to the U.K. everything was squared away and my work made it with two days to spare! 

I had to wait until March 9th to find out the results, and it turned out that ​I was not one of the 48 works selected to exhibit this year, but I'm not feeling too shabby because it is a HUGE honor to have been a finalist and considered by the museum curators - wow. Byron and I celebrated the news straight away with champagne at 6:30am - I'm really proud of my painting, Reduction (Self Portrait), and happy that myself and my painting had such an outstanding opportunity. 

​P.S. I was successful in bringing home my painting too - it just arrived in ship-shape and Bristol fashion on Friday!