Accumulation is a series of still life paintings that discusses the quiet intersections of femininity, illusion, and personal finance. From beach rocks and gifted heirlooms to costume jewelry and discount finds, these works reflect the tender and often unspoken ways we collect, sometimes out of sentiment, sometimes out of desire, and sometimes simply because we can.

The title speaks to both emotional and financial accumulation: the slow gathering of meaning and material, of memories and marketable things. In finance, accumulation is a strategy, a building of wealth through saving, investing, setting something aside. In life, it’s the quiet pile of objects that cost nothing, or little, or appear to cost much more than they do.

As a financial coach, I am continually struck by the ways our possessions shape our relationship to money, and how money, in turn, shapes how we see ourselves and others. These paintings don’t judge. They hold space for the tension between indulgence and restraint, between want and worth. They ask us to consider: what do we choose to keep close and how we portray ourselves to the world?