Holbrow says her overarching motivation as an artist is “making people pay attention”: experientially as with "It Was Here", or to social/political issues as with her extensive forays into Barbie art, which have won her frequent acclaim. Holbrow's take on the way Barbie, personifying women in America, is idealized in order to be vilified: “Barbie is our shadow and you have to embrace your shadow.” In her artist's statement accompanying "Speech Balloons", a body of work that seeks to manifest communication in tangible form, Holbrow wrote: “My task as an artist is to serve as channel between the seen and unseen worlds, facilitating the flow, and creating or revealing connections which nourish the inner lives of individuals and the community.”