🌻How did you become an artist?

The sight of colors always excited and stimulated my being since childhood.

In my early memories, I remember the feeling of excitement arriving at the toy store and making a beeline for the arts and crafts isle. 

I could stare at the Crayola section for hours and imagine all the possibilities of what I could create with what was in front of me.

When I went into secondary school, they had an art class and I remember that bringing me so much joy; I would stay afterschool with my art teacher just to get extra time to do more art.

Putting my visions into creation gave me magical powers to transform the unseen into the seen and to me there was nothing more empowering than that.

Since the age of 6, I loved to draw; draw everywhere on everything!

No storybook was left untouched by me in my haste to redesign and add extra visuals to the story’s imagery.

 🌻Does anyone or anything influence your work?

 Yes If I had to pick one all time favorite classical artist, it would be Gustav Klimt. The swirls and colors he used in his works really resonated with me. Alex Grey’s work has always moved me as well, merging spirituality with art in such a sacred way. My mother also painted as I was growing up  and I would love to watch her in her process.

The sacred beauty, geometry and perfection found in nature is another big source of influence and inspiration. From flower petals to butterfly wings, up into the sky and it’s stars down into the ocean’s deepest waters. The mystery, beauty and wonder connected to all these concepts leave my imagination running without end. 

🌻Any training or education in field of art?

 Yes, I graduated from Miami’s International University of Art and design completing the Fashion Design program there. I also grew up working summers in our family’s textile manufacturing company in Haiti. Being on a production floor filled with sewing machines and cutting tables, I was often around fabrics and trimmings and skilled workers watching it all come together.

 🌻Do you have insight and techniques that you employ?

 When I started I wanted to make handbags and I spent a couple of years developing the works with artisans from various countries in order to make that happen. I worked with Indian, Pakistani and Italian artisans in developing embroidery techniques. I wanted to use the beads in unconventional ways so that they were more 3D in appearance and had a more textured look. Once satisfied with the outcome, I went back to Haiti and worked with a couple of local artisans to share those techniques. Mixing the cultural traditions and techniques from those various cultures and mashing them up to create something new was a result of my process and path. I have just recently started mixing my textile arts with hand chiseled metal works made from recycled drums and I loved the result so it is probably something I will explore more.

Parallel to that, in my quest I have studied crystals and gemstones for their healing properties and chose to incorporate them as added tools into the works.Often times I am hunting for the perfect stone and I work alongside jewelers to pierce/polish these gems in order to sew them into the works. Years ago, I also trained as a certified Reiki master and chose to program some of the works with this powerful healing energy.