Project Statement

        My father was a pastor, and I was homeschooled until the age of 16. My mother was my teacher, and she was my mother. She wanted us to learn everything. She took us to museums, aquariums, zoos, farms, re-enactments, plays, musicals, national parks, rivers, and every library possible. I read a lot. I was particularly into fantasy and mysteries. As I read these books, I read my physical surroundings. My imagination was on fire.  

        I was born in Fresno California, but my father moved us around a few times. First we went to a small town called Willits, located in Northern California. My backyard was a forest. We moved from Willits to another small town called Mill Valley. We lived on top of a hill, so we could see the ocean from our window. There my siblings and I rode our bikes down to the San Francisco Bay. 

         By the time we left Mill Valley I was going on 12. This was when reality started creeping into my life, as it does to every preteen. My family and I moved back to the Central Valley, another small town called Firebaugh. Here, there were no forests or oceans, museums or interesting events. It was just homework and TV, all day every day. I began wanting to experience what "normal" kids experience. I wanted to go to public school. I got my wish when I was a junior in high school, and I began to blend in with everyone else. When I graduated from high school, I began to realize that I was starting to lose my imagination. That was something I longed to get back. However I found that I didn't have time or a need to be imaginative anymore. What happened? When did I lose my imagination?  

          Since that realization, my only goal is to get my imagination back—to get that little girl inside me to come out again, and play with the adult I have become.

           In this project I have combined photos of the human form, along with things that trigger my imagination. Windows and doors have an air of mystery to them. Flowers and feathers bring thoughts of freedom and growth to my mind. Roads and leading lines hold the narrative of hope and the future. Artists who have helped me connect to that lost creative child are Salvador Dali; with his themes of time and his landscapes that evoke a dreamlike feeling; Minor White’s use of texture and light is an inspiration for the overlays in my work. A more contemporary influence is Sara Lando, whose physical manipulations with film and print suggest emotion and narrative.

My photos bring me courage to fight against society and its pressures to immerse me. I hope that my photos will give a little shudder to the hearts of others, and that their imaginations will peek out from under their rocks. The fact is, you cannot advance as an individual or as a culture without expressing your creativity. This is my effort to enhance the growth of our humanity.