In my studio practice, I am driven to create as a way of processing and confronting my past — and by extension, as a way of expressing solidarity with others who have comparable histories.

I glue, cut, dye and paint. I do it boldly, largely because feeling is physical. Then I go home and hold my child. Adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse have no badge of honor for surviving. Yet, we deserve to feel free from the shame and taboos that our trauma so often brings with it. The photographs (that I use on the textiles or exhibit on their own) show a raw intimate vulnerability snapshot into the day to day. It is about moving forward from the pain and abuse that I suffered as a child.

The residency offered me time to print black and white photos. I experimented with color negatives in the black and white darkroom and it was more successful than I expected. Half the photographs, the ones on resin paper will be collaged onto the large-scale colorful textile works with texts. The other half, large-scale 16 x 20 inch fiber based photographs will be used as individual images. They are mainly archive images of my mother, self-portraits and images of my daughter. They will be exhibited at Fotocentrum Raseborg in Karis in May 2025 and / or at Photographic Centre Peri in Turku at the end of October 2025.