Rhizomes Solo Exhibition
April 24 - May 31, 2025 | The Patrician Gallery, Wilmette, IL
Hydrophytes, ink and charcoal on canvas, 82x164 cm (32x64 inches), 2024
Artist Statement
My work is an exploration of botanic interconnectedness, inspired by the concept of the rhizome. Much like the rhizomatic structures that grow underground, my paintings evolve by following processes that resist uniformity and evolve from material experimentation. This exhibition functions as a collection of ideas that will continue to grow, transform, and branch off into new forms and interpretations.
The rhizome is a decentralized root-like structure that grows in an unpredictable manner. It operates as food-storage for a plant and for animals (e.g. ginger, turmeric, lotus-root) and as a form of asexual reproduction by growing its own shoots and roots. Vegetative propagation is a system I follow in my own studio–allowing the “off- cuts” of pieces to grow and shift into one another. In this way, the studio functions as an organism and ecosystem.
Materials like ink and charcoal (burnt, organic matter) catalyze this process, encouraging moments of spontaneity within a set system. I am fascinated by the tension between dendritic, flowing forms and more rigid, grid-like structures. However, the standard grid is a flexible framework that can be disrupted. Its rigidity is questioned when we understand it as a net or web that blurs distinction between organic and geometric. This is additionally challenged in the materials that form a “standard” painting–woven canvas stretched over wooden frames.
Ultimately, Rhizomes showcases the interrelated collaboration between myself, the materials, and the pieces in this exhibition to highlight our congruity with the natural world.
Ecdysis, ink, tea, and emulsion on canvas, 186x300cm, 2024
Ecdysis detail
Ecdysis detail
Limestone I, ink and emulsion on canvas, 150x250cm, 2024
Limestone I detail
Limestone I detail
Limestone II, ink and emulsion on canvas, 150x150cm, 2024
The Nursery, cheesecloth, acrylic, and PVA on canvas, 160x320cm, 2023-24
The Nursery detail
The Nursery detail
Topophilia II, ink and tea on canvas, 120x150cm, 2024
Topophilia II (detail)
Topophilia II (detail)
Topophilia III, Ink and tea on canvas, 60x80cm, 2024
Topophilia IV, ink on canvas, 110x135cm, 2024
Grounding I, ink and emulsion on canvas, 160x200cm, 2024
Grounding I (detail)
Grounding I (detail)
Grounding II, ink, tea, coffee, and emulsion on canvas, 116x186cm, 2024
Grounding III, ink, tea, and coffee on canvas, 30x42cm, 2024
Moss, ink and pastel on canvas, 30x42cm, 2024
Mesh I, ink on canvas, 60x80cm, 2024
Mesh II, ink on canvas, 60x80cm, 2024
Creature detail
Creature detail
Creature detail
Creature detail
Creature detail
Creature detail