Van Gogh was the first artist to truly capture my imagination as a child, his use of color and texture was a revelation for me. I remember the first time I saw “Starry Night” in person at MOMA, I couldn’t get close enough, all I wanted was to reach out and touch it. To truly experience his expressive brushwork. Art has been a passion of mine from a very young age, starting from when my grandfather taught me to draw bunnies and wagons. My mother is also artistic and always encouraged my pursuits. She was always working on craft, painting, and sewing projects herself so I learned from watching as well. As I progressed through high school and college, I continued on an artistic path experimenting with as many mediums as I could. I didn’t discover Fiber Art as a medium until my junior year of college, and I was instantly attracted to it. The possibilities seemed endless and working with seemingly endless materials, especially salvaged ones, felt second nature to me. Being able to explore an idea in all of its’ facets and textures freed my work to be whatever it wanted it to be. Kiki Smith, Caledonia Curry (aka Swoon), Christine Kim, and Michelle Kingdom have been major influences on the style and context of my work. Their use of symbolism, history, the human figure and personal narratives was the inspiration that finally brought me back to art making after years of focus on other paths. My techniques and context are continually developing as I explore and experiment with unique mediums that as a child I thought were just fun crafts. In the future, I want to continue my work and pursue an MFA in Fiber Art.