Artist Statement

I am a graduate of Wayne State University with a BA with a major in History and Art History.  During my career as a librarian in the Print and Photography Division at New York Public Library and for many years as a photo archivist, I gained a special appreciation for everyday photographs and their ability to induce an emotional response.  In my cutouts, my objective is to take a familiar portrait or snapshot and reduce its components to basic simplified colorful shapes.  Once converted into my decorative cutouts, these images still retain their power to evoke memories of the viewer’s own beloved photographs.  For many years I worked in stained glass which appealed to my love of flat shapes of color.  My artistic influences are Japanese prints, collage, and artists Alex Katz and Roy Lichtenstein.  I am the author of All Around the Town: Amazing Manhattan Facts and Curiosities (Fordham University Press, 1st edition 1999, 2nd edition 2011)