Sam Cornetta

Work Statement

To be ostracized from one’s family, from the society and culture you were raised in, can be an isolating and terrifying experience. A spiral that feels limitless, a loneliness that seems infinite. I paint my emotions because, often, the weight of everything makes me feel as though I am drowning in them.

An upside down triangle is the symbol of water, the element through which our emotions and feelings are dealt. Using wood panel, acrylic and oil paint, I have tried to examine the synthesis of these materials, in this form, as a way of exploring, expressing, and working through the heavy emotional turmoil I have found myself in. Whether it be getting cut off from half of my family for standing up for racial justice and standing in my identity as a queer person, or choosing to exist proudly in a community that may place hatred on my existence, sometimes it may feel there is nothing to do but lie down and cry. And yet, a sunrise of hope can still be found in the muddiness of it all.