Through the distorted portrayal of various intimate memories, my work explores the complex aftermath of emotional repression. Thrust in a Catholic community as an atheist during junior high, I sought to feel accepted despite being positioned as a “black sheep” for my lack of faith. Soon enough, I learned to keep my head down and mouth shut whenever I felt like standing up for my own beliefs. This habitual restraining of my own emotions - guilt, shame, and loneliness especially - only caused the intensity of those emotions to multiply. I had no one to turn to, no way of releasing those feelings, until I began creating art again freshman year.
 

The act of reversing emotional repression has become a key theme within my working process. I am perpetually looking for new avenues of expression, new mediums, and new symbols that encapsulate particular emotions I’ve yet to free from the back of my mind. Ultimately, by channeling these feelings throughout my artwork, I’ve begun to unravel my own restraints.

“Remembrance” is a tribute to the works I’ve created during my time here at BG, especially those that have marked major milestones in my journey back in time towards emotional acceptance and reconciliation.