1. Can you tell us about yourself?
I am a multimedia artist using painting, printmaking, collage and assemblage in my work. I
received my MFA in Printmaking from Indiana University in 2015, and MA and BA from Eastern
Illinois University. Since graduate school, I’ve taught at Butler University, DePauw University, and
Ivy Tech Community College. But, overall my focus has been to really push myself in terms of my
work and practice. I’ve participated in a few residencies including the Vermont Studio Center,
Stutz Artists Association, The Studios at MASS MoCA, and most recently the Liquitex Research
Residency, where I was artist in residence at Residency Unlimited, in Brooklyn, NY.
I currently live in Valdosta, GA. My husband Sean Hurley and I just moved to South Georgia for
his job teaching Printmaking at Valdosta State University. We have a gecko named Pepperoni.
2. Recently you have completed a residency in New York. Would you tell us about this
experience?
I was one of the nine artists to participate in the Liquitex Cadmium-Free Research Residency. My
six-week residency was in Brooklyn, NY in partnership with Residency Unlimited. I received a
generous amount of materials from Liquitex, including the new cadmium-free paints. I’ve never
worked with such nice materials before and they blew me away. I was in dreamland. I also had a
great studio, walking distance to Residency Unlimited, where I had meetings with curators,
gallery directors, and other artists. RU facilitated these meetings and I don’t quite know how to
sum up how incredible and profoundly valuable they were. Words can’t do it justice. The
residency culminated with a panel discussion at Residency Unlimited with Daniel Mantilla (one of
the other Liquitex Residency artists) in conversation with Thomas Micchelle and Jennifer Samet.
It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to spend so much time in NYC – to see museums,
galleries, and to meet and work with an incredible group of people at RU. This residency was
one of the greatest experiences I’ve had as an artist and I know it will impact my studio practice
in years to come.
3. Tell us about materials that you use to produce your paintings? Why you have chosen these
particular mediums?
My practice is informed directly by my immediate and personal surroundings. In combination
with acrylic paint, printmaking inks, wood, and glue, I collect and use materials in my work that
have had previous existences, whether cardboard from my neighbor’s recycling, paper on the
street, or my own junk mail. I am interested in the moments when materials become like
experiences – relative and dependent on context, everything and nothing at the same time.My practice is informed directly by my immediate and personal surroundings. Share on X
4. What inspires you to create your work?
Short answer: being human.
Longer answer: My work is a nod to the human experience of simultaneous knowing and not
knowing. It is a negotiation between impermanence and rigidity, chaos and control, fragility and
strength. I am interested in moments and interactions that are neither singular nor binary and
instead are multifaceted and complex. I am driven to make because it is how I pay attention. It’s
all about paying attention.
5. Can you tell us a bit about your daily routine, and what your standard working day looks like?
My routine is shaped by studio and non-studio days – determined by my part-time job at a local
frame shop. On the days that I work at the shop, my routine is to work 8-9 hours, and get caught
up on life things – grocery shopping, errands, laundry, etc. The days that I don’t work at the
frame shop are my studio days. On these days I wake up early, head to my studio with coffee in
hand and work 3-4 hours before breaking for lunch. After lunch I usually work until 4:30 and
break for a short run, early supper, then look at applications for residencies, shows, and grants. I
visit my studio one more time before heading to bed – sometimes to just think, other times to
work as late as I can.
Regardless if it’s a studio day or not, I read each day and this informs my practice. Right now I
am rereading Anne Truitt’s Daybook, Turn, and Bachelard’s Poetics of Space.
6. What do you think the importance of creative art will look like five years from now?
It seems like our society is getting more and more polarized, making all forms of art and the
humanities in general, imperative. I hope that art continues to voice truths, to remind us of what
it is to be human, and to hold us accountable to each other. I believe that an art practice isn’t
just personal; that it is also about how the artist lives outside of the studio. Art represents critical
thinking, self-reflection, and free expression, and as such seems more important and relevant
than ever.
