I always liked to draw the human body but in 2020, because of Covid restrictions, figure drawing sessions in studios around Chicago were being held remotely, which I found somewhat boring.

So, one day I went looking for contemporary dance videos on YouTube and landed on a recording of an Italian aerialist, Andrea Paoli. From there, I discovered that other aerialists from around the world post their training videos on Instagram and I began sketching and painting them.

I find aerialists (silk, loop and trapeze artists) fascinating. The body is dangling in the air from a prop that requires a lot of physical strength. You are up there, alone – most of the time – exposed, vulnerable and creating figures, stretching your body to feign a grace masking the strength required to perform your moves.