PRINTMAKING
My work is based in narrative and metaphor. I connect found objects with personal images as an attempt to assign meaning and narrative to something once discarded; what was once junk becomes precious. These “manufactured artifacts” comment on the fact that many objects are only given meaning by human intervention, and prompts us to consider our own personal associations alongside the imagined story of the object.
All of my pieces hold personal weight, since I explore, process, and evaluate my own experiences and connections through my work. Still, I intend to evoke reflection in the viewer, of what holds meaning to them and the experiences they have had to generate that significance. I believe my work speaks to the human urge to collect and to cherish, and that doing these things may build upon our sense of purpose.
PAINTING
My most recent body of work explores ideas revolving around the assigned female at birth (AFAB) experience, and the way women and AFAB people experience gender identity. The way that these individuals interact with the world and the way that the world interacts with them is different than with others, because of their gender assignment or presentation. In some instances this interaction may be rather mundane, but more often than not is in a way that causes negative self-perception, or negative feelings about the world around them. I was socialized as a woman and am seen as a woman, so my own identity influences the trajectory of my work. This most often circles back to the negative experiences I have had or observed in the world around me, and the feeling of disconnect it has caused to my own assigned gender identity.
In my paintings, I reference my own body, creating compositions that emphasize form and color, and in varying levels of abstraction. I start by photographing myself as source imagery, and this in itself becomes important as a process by which I bridge the mentioned disconnect. To begin abstracting the body, I attempt to contort myself into visually interesting shapes, paying attention to the way the lighting and shadows detail my form. Doing this inherently requires me to be very present in my body, and to be aware of the way that I am interacting with my environment. It requires an acceptance of my nude form presented as female, but in a way that neither positively nor negatively connotes it. The painting process itself – through careful cropping of the photos, exaggeration of color, and an attention to form – aims to further neutralize the female body via abstraction.
I am most interested in exploring ideas about autonomy, perception, and interpersonal relationships as they relate to AFAB people. Though much of my work is seen through my own personal lens, it details more broad experiences as well, and each vantage point informs the other. I hope to present the viewer with a nuanced view, removing sensationalized associations of sexuality, beauty, and traditional ideas about femininity.