We Reach

Installation: We Reach Across the Same Blue Sky

"We Reach Across the Same Blue Sky refers to the underlying connection of human beings to each other
and to nature, ultimately the deepest forms of belonging."

We Reach Across the Same Blue Sky is a visual meditation on migration, culture and identity. Using images and text from my family’s rural history in Switzerland and Sweden and my husband’s rural roots in Nigeria, this work explores how the journeys of those who came before impact our developing sense of identity and belonging.

Working in charcoal and washes of aqueous paint, portraits and landscapes from our family histories are punctuated with handwritten lines of text, photo transparencies and deep blues and greens that flow onto the wall space, echoing the changing landscape of identity. The title, “We Reach Across the Same Blue Sky,” refers to the underlying connection of human beings to each other and to nature, ultimately the deepest forms of belonging.

Showing at the Muse GR ArtPod, 128 Louis St. NW

Series: Every Imprint Leaves a Mark

"I am interested in how our experiences shape who we become and imprint on our being. I hope this work connects with those who struggle to find their place in the world, to take the marks that we carry and transform them into self-understanding."

In the series, "Every Imprint Leaves a Mark," portraits of everyday activities—our son walking the dog, our daughter on a nature hike—are layered with imagery from the rural villages in Nigeria, where my husband was born, and Switzerland where my relatives were farmers. The gold color from traditional Nigerian clothing made for my husband, yet interestingly manufactured in Switzerland, shows up in the radiant color of our son's hoodie and the stitching on my daughter's clothing, a connecting thread. Details from the built and natural landscape fuse, bringing memories of place, time and those who came before.

TV News coverage of "Every Imprint Leaves a Mark"