I made these block prints, cyanotypes, and oil pastel pieces during a transformative 2 year period of my life, from 2023-2025.

these pieces tended to come through me in my rawest moments. each one was an experience of coming into undeniable connection with the truth of my heart, my spirit, and the vessel of my body - often in the face of what initially felt like unbearable vulnerability.

time after time, the making of these pieces ushered me through that vulnerability portal. as each new piece came to life, I found myself in a new reality.

a reality where more of me could be free, take up space, be valued and be treated with steady compassion, dignity, and respect.... which was then mirrored in my relationships with others.

this series intentionally prioritizes emotional honesty, authenticity, intuition, somatic integrity, and honoring the power and inherent enoughness of natural human expression when connecting honestly and vulnerably with myself exactly as I am in the moment of creation.

this two year practice of interrupting and experimenting outside of supremacist conditioning like perfectionism and creating to appease an external authority’s standards (such as placing high value on planning, editing, traditional/popular elements of design, or any other external measure of “good art”), gave me time to develop a deeper understanding of what matters to me and my particular body and spirit in my creative practice, and in life.

this understanding came through learning the language of my body over time, and understanding how my body communicates to me what matters to me… something that I got to develop for the first time as a survivor of CPTSD.

as a daily card puller of many years, I’ve long had a sense that the nature of the art I was making during this 2 year period of my life wanted to become an oracle card deck.

I had always assumed that I would write a guidebook alongside of it. as I continued to practice connecting with the spirit of this deck, however, I was led instead to offer it alongside a companion journal: somatic spellwork toward liberation: ritualized guided journaling for neuroplasticity and somatic integration.

born from the practices and framework em uses with clients, this companion journal was lovingly crafted to offer you a short, repeatable ritual you can practice any time you pull oracle or tarot cards.

this ritual is somatic, emotional, creative, neuroplastic spellwork. alchemy.

may it give you space to connect with your own relationship with the cards, the experiences they speak to, and the emotions and sensations they evoke in you.

may it deepen your relationship with your unique inner language and landscape; your truth, power, and creativity; and the nature of life itself.

may it support you in making more space for the fullness of you as you dance with life.

may it leave you freer than it found you each time you return.