Spirits in the Grove is a collection of mixed-media artworks installed outdoors.

These paintings explore grief, memory, movement, and the unseen connections between us and the spirit. Created for Clinton, Iowa, this installation grew out of my own experience navigating the loss of my aunt Lana, who was murdered, My grandmothers who passed from cancer, and my soul kitty.

Finding ways to live with the grief that followed. Making these pieces became a way to process what I couldn’t always put into words and to find moments of connection and healing through the act of creating.

Using dead grapevines, moss, textiles, and other materials, I experimented with new techniques to give these elements another life. The forms evoke a sense of movement, as though spirits are dancing among the vines, passing through the grove, or lingering just beyond what we can see. I wanted the work to feel less like something to observe and more like something to spend time with.

Visitors are invited to sit with the artwork, listen to what it brings up for them, and meditate, pray, sing, dance with the pieces in their own way. I hope to create space for conversation with the art, with ourselves, and perhaps with those we carry with us even after they’re gone.

Spirits in the Grove was installed June 2026, with a grand-opening art show, and will remain on view to the public through mid-November at 125 4th Ave S. Clinton, Iowa. Just up the road from one of the Thomas Drambo trolls.