The first time I visited the coast of Maine, it felt familiar. Something about the craggy beaches and variations of gray sky and Atlantic waves echoed in an unexpected way. In a conversation with another Maine-lover, he mentioned collective memory: the idea that we hold memory for events — and in this case — places, in sort of a cultural collective. I began making encaustic pieces that contained references to the landscape I was painting, building a collective memory in the work itself. Often those references are photographs I have taken that I print on silk and layer into the work. Sometimes the pieces might be metal, plant life, fabric, or beeswax from a particular region. For me it is a way to revere our natural history and to connect my work to time and place.