Artist's Statement

I love making marks and images.  My earliest memories are of etching with a pin on my mother’s coffee table and murals on the walls with crayon.   Now, I make marks on canvas, etching plates, and paper. My responses are formed by those around me, and my own experiences.

I have lived almost half my life in East Africa. As a "fringe dweller" in other cultures and societies, there is a synthesis of ideas and understandings informing my work. People have been my main focus of interest…perceived "borders” between us dissolving in both my mind and my art.  The struggle to survive and grow, spiritually and physically, are themes which unifies us all.

My art reflects the struggle, understanding and, sometimes, humour that accompany the many adjustments which work to combine my African and Canadian experiences.  Through balance and insight, my work finds its expression reaching for both the metaphorical and real images which evoke a more primal expression of faith and unity.  Many times the work is an exploration of both the outer reality surrounding me, and the inner landscape of my own responses.

Presently, I reside in Canada and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and can be reached at: