Artist Statement: The Southern Gothic series is close to my heart. I’m a northern born southern transplant, and I am fascinated by the tangled mess everywhere. There is always darkness and blooming, withering, and coming to life all at once. The seasons are blurred here in the Upstate. Camila shrubs bloom in the winter and magnolia trees lose their leaves in the spring. Death and life sit side by side in an embrace of shadows and light, which is very much how our lives are. There are seasons in life, but those seasons happen side and often overtake each other. The lines between bitter and sweet are blurred in the blessed ordinary time that we all given.