wallflower

2025 - ongoing

My photographic work often begins with research into family and social history. Wallflower grew from an exploration of women’s lives in the late nineteenth century and the formal photography of that era—daguerreotypes, tintypes, and cabinet cards. By scanning and enlarging these photographs, I was able to more closely see the intricate details of clothing and adornment and the traces of individuality beneath the conventions of the time.

While developing this series, I returned to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, now regarded as one of the leading feminist writers of her time. The story, often associated with early discussions of postpartum depression, reflects the limited roles and domestic confinement imposed on women in the nineteenth century. Its tension between decoration and entrapment became a framework for the work.

In Wallflower, I layer nineteenth-century portraits with richly patterned wallpapers inspired by interiors of the time. The wallpaper serves as a metaphor for the domestic spaces that both defined and confined women’s lives. Some images preserve the grace and composure these women projected, while others intentionally disrupt that restraint, revealing isolation, repression, and quiet psychological tension beneath the surface.

daguerreotype & tintype collages

Collaged work

Transfer prints onto 19th Century wallpaper