Artist Statement

My research is built around the idea of personhood and individuality through the medium of drawing and painting. I am specifically interested in the feeling of discomfort with one’s self, and I have chosen to tackle this feeling by morphing different parts of my body both physically, digitally, and physically again through the drawing and painting medium. My process starts out by taking photographs of parts of myself that have been morphed, squeezed, or edited in photoshop, and then creating my work from them. Growing up as a queer and nonbinary person in my hometown, I often felt that my feelings were too bizarre to share with others. I was finally able to explore the true meaning of my work at KCAI, and I was welcomed in an environment where I didn’t feel like I had to hide from my identity. This gave me the freedom to make what made the most sense to me, not just something that was technically accurate or beautiful.

Through charcoal, graphite, and acrylic paint, I have been able to dig up parts of myself I otherwise would have repressed. I am very interested in the idea of the Other and what that feeling of being “othered” is like. I do this by creating nightmarish, unsettling scenes of my face and body wrapped in plastic, cloth, and tape in bizarre outfits and accessories. I am inspired to create things that are technically realistic with unexpected elements in them to convey emotion. These are not self-portraits, but I use myself as a conduit to perpetuate these unsettling feelings of loneliness and derealization.