Two years ago the sound of a dog barking began to sound uncomfortable, almost painful. So did laughing, clapping, yelling, singing – loud and abrupt noises would cut through from ear to ear. The MRI detected no cause for the hearing anomaly, but instead discovered a small pituitary tumor, later determined benign. I have headaches everyday and spots and flashes in my vision and a persistent ache in my right shoulder. Sometimes I feel so nervous I think I’m going to throw up. My therapist says I might be a hypochondriac, and that I need to drink more water and eat a clove of raw garlic every day.

My artwork is a vague note to my doctor, in an attempt to describe what I’m seeing and feeling when I’m in my fits of discomfort. I steer away from depicting figuratively what is happening inside of my body. Instead I aim to represent the unsettling feelings that come with not knowing what is happening or what will happen. My favorite tool at the moment is the palette knife, since it allows me to feel less constrained and attached to realism, and more in touch with the texture and nuances of color in my paintings. The sense of intrusion, energy, uncharted depth are central to my more recent work. I’m interested in depicting tension in my art, and experimentation with oil paint thickness and texture has provided new avenues to do so.