Living with it

About the Work

This digital portrait shows me walking a fuzzy purple creature on a chain?an embodiment of mental illness. Blending whimsy with heaviness, it challenges norms of subject, medium, and emotion. Often dismissed in fine art spaces, digital work here becomes a tool for care and confrontation, reclaiming space for vulnerability, personal truth, and the art forms often left out of the canon.

About the Artist

Art has always been a constant companion in my life, and it is through this creative lens that I process and confront the complexities of my experiences. My work often takes on a whimsical, childlike quality, with the work serving as surrogates for a lifetime of encounters. These seemingly playful pieces are more than just visual delights; they are deeply personal artifacts that reflect my ongoing dialogue with the world. As a child, I was labeled as overly emotional. I felt like I needed to shrink all my feelings down to become more digestible for others. Now, I allow these emotions to run free, as my work becomes storage for these emotions. The charm and innocence in my art act as a counterbalance to darker themes, capturing the boundless nature of childhood while also acknowledging the shadows that accompany it.

My main medium is clay, however, I am additionally inspired by secondhand materials, both for sustainability reasons and sheer curiosity regarding the past lives these materials lived. I additionally incorporate sewing into my practice, a skill passed down from my mother to me as a child. Much like I utilize charm and innocence in my art as a counterbalance to darker themes, ceramic and fiber art contrast physically, creating tension in material and content.

By merging the whimsical with the profound, I seek to weaponize cuteness as a means of confronting and navigating complex emotions. In essence, my art is a means of processing trauma and emotions, with the trauma becoming a driving force behind the creative process. Through this practice, I hope to offer not only a glimpse into my journey but also an invitation for others to reflect on their own experiences with curiosity, vulnerability, and resilience.