As long as I can remember, I’ve organized and been involved in artist groups and collectives. It all started with “AYWAKE – Alliance of Young Women Artists Kreating Empowerment,” a small, informal salon I co-founded in college. I had been feeling isolated from other artists in the liberal arts milieu I was submerged in, and I ended up forming friendships in that group that became very important to me. I went on to participate in several other women’s crit groups and collectives as I pursued an art career. In reflecting on this experience recently, I realized that this kind of self-organized community has performed a crucial function in my art making, by providing a lens through which my artwork can be understood — and affirmed — by my queer feminist peers.

How We Got Here: Portrait of the Artist as a Queer Feminist