Between Worlds (Senior Show)
This body of work truly came together by accident. I spent most of my time in undergrad grasping at straws, trying to figure out who I was, and my small portfolio seemed to leave the question unanswered. In coping with this identity crisis, I completed a number of self-portraits, many from life, that happened to reflect the very journey I wanted to depict. I created them with no intention of sharing them with anyone. They were supposed to be an exercise to help me find out what to say.
So there I was, almost a month before the show, canvases prepped, sketchbooks full, still with no idea of where anything was going. It wasn’t until I took a step back that I found my answer. When looking upon the work I created with no intention, I was realized that art isn’t about having concrete definitions; it is about leaving pieces of yourself behind for someone else to take from. The artist cannot control how their work is perceived. This very fact is the beauty and magic of art.
So I turned my sketches into drawings, leaning into their unfinishedness. I painted the first things that came to mind, and allowed them to come out completely differently than I expected. I looked upon my army of self-portraits and asked them to inspire perhaps just one soul. And this is what came from that.
Unwritten, 2025
Oil on Canvas, 16” x 20”
Breakthrough. 2025.
Oil on Canvas, 9”x12”
To No Avail, 2025
Oil on Linen, 18” x 24”
Listen. 2025. Charcoal on Paper, 11”x14”
Breathe. 2025. Charcoal on Paper, 11”x14”
See. 2025. Charcoal on Paper, 9.5” x 13”
Overworked. 2025. Oil and Thread on Canvas, 24"” x 30”
My work explores concepts of healing, journey, and the pursuit of completion. As a bearer of childhood trauma and a participant in the institutions of therapy, medication, and the commodification of care, I have become familiar with the capitalist inclination to generalize experience and assume a clear path to wholeness. But it is simply not the case. Universality among humanity is a myth, aside from the condition of having a body.
My drawings bring attention to the paradox of universality by highlighting the nuances and differences that exist among shared features. We rely on these features to function, and yet they are often seen as sources of insecurity, imbalance, and tension. It is common to define ourselves based on what we think we should be, where we should be, who we should be. Rigidity rules our sense of self.
Upon revisiting my many desperate attempts at saying something with my art, I found that its unfinished-ness is incredibly interconnected with how I’ve experienced the world thus far. As is the nature of healing, my paintings are nonlinear, unpredictable, and never complete. They acknowledge the beauty of breakthrough while celebrating the trials and tribulations that come with it.