I am a contemporary artist living in San Diego, California. My work is a mixture of nostalgia, humor, sarcasm, current and past events.
I was born in the San Fernando Valley in 1962. I am a first-generation Latvian American and a second-generation Polish, Hungarian Jew. My mother and her family escaped Latvia in 1943 and lived in a displaced persons camp in Germany for six years.
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I've always been an artist and wanted to be a studio artist since I was small. I come from a creative family—my grandfather was a well-known comedic actor in Latvia who later worked as a janitor after finally making it to the United States. A film featuring him from 1939 can still be found on YouTube.
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I earned my B.A. in Fine Art from California State University, Fresno. I began with sculpture and ceramics, transitioned to oil painting, and eventually settled on acrylics. I relocated to San Diego in 1986. During this period, I started creating three-dimensional wall hangings made from foam board. My work, shaped by what is happening in my life, has always incorporated hidden symbols. Almost like pop-up books in wall-hanging form, each piece told a story. This approach defined my work for most of my adult life.
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I met and married in 1996. While working part-time jobs, I continued developing my 3D artwork. Trying to create a more financially stable life, I took a position as a Creative Director, a role I continued in for the next 25 years.
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In 2021, after a long-standing job came to an end, I found myself revisiting the roots of my art. I began with charcoal drawings, moved to small acrylics on board, and then to larger acrylics on canvas. I set aside 3D work, realizing it was limiting the clarity of my message. Now, as my skills have grown, so has the strength of my message. I feel that my current paintings truly capture both my voice and my vision.