In these works, I “zoomed in” my focus, examining not only stories of transformation but also the process itself. . In this world, all bodies – human, animal, vegetable, mineral – are fluid, and all boundaries are permeable. Much of this magic takes place in the ocean, the primal waters from which life first emerged.

I depict transformations from human to bird, from arm to wing, from male to female, from larva to dragonfly, from dream to knowledge. For years I have immersed myself in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and most of the pieces in this exhibit take as a starting point Ovid’s story of Ceyx and Alcyone.

Most of these pieces contain a more powerful mix of emotions than my previous work. The splashes of red, the sharpness of beaks, the darkness of layered depths, the oddness of some of the images, all speak to the pain and conflict that is an essential part of change. These aspects are balanced by the sensuous richness of color and texture.

These pieces are about the processes of change in all of us. We take a leap, grow wings, escape one life, emerge into a new self.

This passage from The Tempest, learnt by heart in grade school, haunts me and underlies the SeaChanges exhibition.

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made:
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange