The female form has long embodied strength, vulnerability, and resilience—enduring themes at the heart of my artistic practice. As a Seattle sculptor and contemporary figurative artist, I work primarily in clay, creating female figures that explore identity, empowerment, and human connection.

I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, where the region's forests, coastlines, and quiet complexity shaped my earliest understanding of beauty, solitude, and belonging. Though my childhood was marked by frequent moves and adversity, I found steadiness in the natural world. Long hours spent outdoors—observing insect habitats, breathing fresh air, and listening deeply—cultivated an intuitive, hands-on way of seeing that continues to inform my work. While I had little exposure to galleries or the broader art world until college, those early experiences fostered a lifelong curiosity about form, texture, and the rhythms of the natural world.

Raised as the only girl among four siblings in a Catholic family, I often searched for a stronger sense of identity and belonging. In my early adulthood, I stepped away from the University of Washington for two years to push beyond my comfort zone—living in different places, embracing unfamiliar experiences, and eventually traveling solo across the United States. That period of exploration gave me the clarity and conviction to return to the university to study sculpture, becoming the foundation of both my artistic practice and my understanding of myself.

I earned my BFA in Sculpture from the University of Washington in 2003, concentrating in metal casting. Early in my studies, I encountered the work of Alberto Giacometti, whose raw, expressive figures affirmed that emotional truth could be more powerful than technical perfection. That influence deepened while studying in Rome, where I became captivated by the dialogue between classical sculpture, ancient ruins, and the natural world—the quiet collaboration between time, decay, and form. Traveling throughout Europe further expanded this perspective and continues to resonate throughout my work.

In 2009, I transitioned primarily to clay, drawn to its tactile immediacy and remarkable capacity to express movement, texture, and emotion. The material allowed my work to become more intuitive, elemental, and deeply connected to the human experience. Motherhood, through the birth of my daughter, Margaux, in 2011, profoundly reshaped both my life and my practice, deepening my understanding of nurturing, resilience, and the enduring strength of the feminine.

Building creative community has been a parallel thread throughout my artistic journey. Alongside my studio practice, I have sought to create spaces where artists can connect, collaborate, and thrive. I co-founded the Twilight Artist Collective (2005-2012), supporting hundreds of emerging artists, before helping shape Georgetown Trailer Park Mall into an accessible and inclusive home for artists, collectors, and independent makers. There, I also curate the Royal Mansion Gallery from a restored 1951 Spartan Royal Mansion trailer, exhibiting the work of more than twenty local artists. In 2015, I founded Pugmill Society, a ceramic collective at Equinox Studios in Seattle, where I continue to create within a vibrant community of makers.

Art remains both my rebellion and my redemption—a lifelong practice of making sense of my experiences and transforming them into forms that invite connection. Whether through sculpture or the communities I help cultivate, I seek to create spaces where strength and vulnerability can coexist, and where others might recognize something of themselves.