School of the Arts Institute of Chicago
In-Studio Summer Residency, 2022

As part of my studio practice, I developed scenes surrounding aging, family and identity. By taking advantage of intentionality, I’m shifting focus to issues faced by America’s aging population. My father-in-law passed away at the age of ninety in 2021. He was isolated in his rent-controlled New York apartment throughout the COVID pandemic. I arranged for at-home care years before. I believe the lack of reliable, quality care contributed to his decline which began with rather innocuous dietary issues. He checked himself into the hospital and for the next six months was shuttled from one hospital to another as well as to a rehab facility and finally to a nursing home where he was given the wrong medication which we speculate contributed to ending his life.
 
 
Several months after he passed away, I took up the cause of finding a voice for the elderly. This led to my work titled “A Road Beyond Košice.“ This poem explores erasure — how isolation and financial hardships create a vacuum within which survival is significantly reduced.My poetry draws awareness toward people living on the fringes of society — the poor, the elderly, women without means. Another important undercurrent is about how awareness operates within the schematic of the phases of life we all experience. I deal a lot in persona, but venture into the abstract.
 

Many poets believe poetry is a filter for personal expression. I’ve included my poem titled “Triskele,” a confessional piece. “Triskele,” is a metaphor for the three legs of life — youth, middle and old age. Inspired by Sylvia Plath’s “Tulips,” it represents my journey and the unforeseen lessons it affords me.