Artist Statement

It’s always been a habit of mine to bottle my feelings. Coming from a household where feelings are hardly discussed or even expressed, I can understand where the habit originated from. It’s in times of overwhelming emotion that I turn to my artwork to represent even a fraction of what I’m feeling.

In the time of quarantine, it was one of the few times I was forced into a position where I was alone with my irrepressible thoughts, where I was left to question my thoughts, beliefs, and mental capacity. With everything going in the world, I often found myself staring in the mirror, questioning whether this was a reality I was living in, or if it was a dream that I couldn’t seem to wake up from. Seconds turned into minutes, which turned into days, and somewhere along the line, the days blurred together, and it felt as if I was reliving the same day over and over again. In this piece, I wanted to represent the uncertainty that I was submerged in for so long. When I thought returning to school would free me from the confines of my mind, I was bombarded by the loss of a father-figure as well as being impacted by the growing racial tension swarming the country, all while living through a pandemic. Meanwhile, I’m told I still have the responsibility of being a college student and focus on work that couldn’t be the furthest thing from my mind.

In these distorted self-portraits, I find peace. The use of the medium linoleum was refreshing in the act of carving out the emotions buried deep within me, and pouring them into my work. The confusion and anxiety that was swirling within me when creating this piece have found closure in the never-ending uncertainty that is life.

Title: Perpetual Perplexity, Date: 2020, 44 X 44 inches, Linoleum on Fabric