I am interested in the tension between body and environment. This is a series of self-portraits, which deals with my struggle to understand how I function within a space. The work is an exercise in facing the mirror and a search to understand how I affect and am affected by my environment. Each figure inevitably takes on her own identity, and is no longer “me”. In some paintings, the figure stands out as separate from the surrounding space and in others she begins to dissolve into the environment. I set a mood with my palette and describe the tension and urgency of the paintings with thick, overlapping slabs of paint. By painting myself alone in different moments of life, I show the varying emotions that a woman experiences when confronted with the responsibility and realization that her body occupies space. 4.17.09