91´«Ã½

My work is centered around people—myself and the people I love. In referencing specific experiences, feelings, and details in my artwork, I am able to connect with viewers about shared experiences. I am an artist not only because I have found no better way to express myself and understand the world, but also because it is an avenue through which I can foster connection between people. To me, this is what life is about. By openly sharing my vulnerabilities, I strive to allow others to reflect on their own experiences and feel seen through my artwork.

I have been trying to understand myself through drawing and painting for years. Spending my life sitting with intense emotions has made self-portraiture a powerful tool to externally visualize my feelings, memories, and habits. I use facial expressions and colorful, layered distortion to visualize how my emotions physically feel.

The discovery of my own identity through art has influenced my quest to study how others understand and express who they are. I ask the subjects of my seated portraits to collect objects that represent them and to wear clothing they feel confident in, prompting them to reflect on their own identity. Additionally, I paint objects that others keep in their spaces to understand what each individual values.

My art practice is also intertwined with my relationship with my grandmother and my mom. I make work about my grandmother to honor our sacred relationship and to grieve her passing. As I watched my mom lose her mother, I reflected on my own mother/daughter relationship and the universally shared experience of love and loss. The specific moments I have chosen to depict allow me to connect with my mom more deeply, while processing grief.