Identity Theft

Identity Theft, a series of intimate portraits inspired by the iconic work of Sally Mann, reflects my struggle to come to terms with the paradox inherent in motherhood. Motherhood begins with an act of creation, a transformative experience that can manifest as an identity crisis: a mother is immediately thrust into an all-consuming, co-dependent relationship with her child.

After the birth of my first child, I felt increasingly disconnected from my prior self, sapped of the creative energy that sustained my identity by the seemingly endless demands of motherhood. My experience of motherhood has compelled me to redefine and rediscover my stolen identity. In this series of photographs I have turned the tables, drawing upon my children as my muses to make portraits in which I explore the various facets of their emerging identities while projecting my own aesthetic fantasies and visions onto them. Making these portraits is an act of creative collaboration, a process that can run the gamut from a symbiotic dialogue -- an act of identity construction -- to an all-out tug-of-war for creative control -- an act of reciprocal identity theft.

My creative process mirrors the fundamental and eternal struggle between mother and child, an enduring and intimate relationship of mutual discovery, transformation and growth that begins with the act of creation and progresses through many stages, all the while both constructing and defining identity.