From My Studio in Giverny began during my summer residency with the Terra Foundation for American Art in Giverny, France. Upon settling into my studio, I quickly learned that it once belonged to the American Impressionist Lilla Cabot Perry, a painter who lived with her husband and three daughters in Giverny throughout the 1890’s. During that time, Perry became a successful and recognized artist who developed a close relationship with Monet, her neighbor and close friend. Even though she received recognition in her lifetime, Perry’s artistic merits have been largely overshadowed and eclipsed by her distinct role as a link between the American and French artists at the end of the 19th century.

Taken by my discovery of Perry, whose life and work would have remained invisible to me if not for chance, I was reminded of the illusion that history presents. How lucky I was that I experienced a moment of discovery that altered my conception of reality and brought to life a person who, for me, would otherwise never have existed. Upon my return to the U.S., I unfolded the floor plan I drew just before leaving my studio in Giverny and began recreating the objects and fragments through which my initial discovery took place. Reconstructed using wood, paper, linen, concrete, paint, and pencil, these simulated objects are a reconstitution of three histories: Perry’s, mine, and the one we are told. That the objects comprising the illusions I’ve created run the risk of being overlooked only illuminates the notion that history, as it is written, erases countless lives and narratives that merit visibility and attention.

Portrait, 2011.
Oil on linen in handmade wood frame, 4 x 3 inches.

Catalog, 2011-2012.
Oil on plywood, 11 x 9 x 1/2 inches.

Note Reads: “Except for Mary Cassat, Theodore Robinson was the closest of all to the French. In 1888 he met Monet, settled in Giverny, and worked with the great master until his return to the U.S.,” American Art, p. 309.

Catalog, 2011-2012.
Oil on plywood, 11 x 9 x 1/2 inches.

Catalog (details), 2011-2012.
Oil on plywood, 11 x 9 x 1/2 inches.

Cover, From Lilla Cabot Perry: An American Impressionist, 2012.
Color pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches.

Page 1, From Lilla Cabot Perry: An American Impressionist, 2012.
Color pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches.

Page 3, From Lilla Cabot Perry: An American Impressionist, 2012.
Color pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches.

Page 4, From Lilla Cabot Perry: An American Impressionist, 2012.
Color pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches.

Table of Contents, From Lilla Cabot Perry: An American Impressionist, 2012.
Color pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches.

Page 7, From Lilla Cabot Perry: An American Impressionist, 2012.
Color pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches.

Page 9, From Lilla Cabot Perry: An American Impressionist, 2012.
Color pencil on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches.

Wall Fragment, 2012.
Acrylic on found concrete, 6 x 13 x .5 inches.