Artist’s Note

The Ascending Series began as a handful of paintings specifically made for the "Recovery" issue of Symposeum. The visuals in the series were a collaborative work influenced by the music of D.C.-based ambient guitarist Tristan Welch, who created instrumental tracks for me to interpret visually. In his songs, Tristan layers distorted guitar loops on top of smoldering, tempo-less bass lines to build what one reviewer called “a mini-soundtrack to a movie about fading memories.” In these pieces, I used color and composition to answer the questions posed by Tristan’s music.

The first five (of thirty) paintings were made with acrylics on thick paper, applied by using a squeegee and palette knife. I created these in my home studio while working remotely as an art teacher. Once in-person classes resumed, I created the remaining pieces digitally, on an iPad.