"What I've Learned From The Sun" / Behind The Work

In this latest collection of work, I want to explore the quiet notions of topics we don’t make public centerpieces of in our lives. emotions that feel out of reach, unconscious patterning, conditioned storytelling. The things that can feel a bit uncomfortable or taboo for most, feel touchable with art. I want to push myself to keep going there. the figure has always been the most truthful medium to do so.

where i relearn the inner-workings for being inside my own body; it is that place that keeps me TETHERED to life. a remembering.

There is a visceral connection between mind and body that we are not taught about in school. we are not taught how to access it / how significant it is / how to heal those parts of ourselves when they become lost. sometimes, we can go our entire lives ignoring this connection. we lose all bodily autonomy. this work serves as a gentle reminder of what lies beneath the surface behind the death of our embodiment.

the concept of shame has been surfacing in my work. shame can be the foundation of which we build our lives, if we are not careful. it is DETRIMENTAL to our confidence, our courage, our growth patterns, our concept of self. shame is the invisible rope around the neck. closing in each time you find a narrative to support the concept of you not being worthy.

NO ONE IS BORN ASHAMED. SHAME CYCLES ARE A LEARNED AND INHERITED PATTERN. SOME THINGS ARE CONSTANT, YOU LEARN: LIKE THE SUN RISING AND SETTING EACH DAY. cycles often go unnoticed, as if they will always be there. they are subtle, unconscious; like air leaving the lungs. what cycles are we normalizing in the human experience? what do we take as our truth?

FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION, WE LEARN TO PERFECTLY MIMIC OUR CAREGIVERS SHAME. GUILT SAYS WE’VE DONE SOMETHING WRONG. SHAME SAYS WE, IN OUR VERY ESSENCE, ARE WRONG. THE NATURAL WORLD SYNCS TO THE MOON AND SUN CYLES, AND WE HAVE CREATED OUR OWN. IN OUR CYCLE OF SHAME, THERE IS NO ROOM FOR VULNERABILITY, CURIOSITY, OR GROWTH. INTERNALIZED FEAR KEEPS US SMALL, BELIEVING WE ARE UNWORTHY OF CONNECTION. DISCONNECT TEACHES DISHARMONY. we are no longer in our body. we are no longer speaking our truth. we are no longer able to walk through the world; BELIEVING we are worthy of connection.

but looking carefully we see: ALL AROUND US ARE BIDS FOR CONNECTION. ALL AROUND US ARE the REMINDERS FOR ONENESS; WHOLENESS..LIKE BEING RAISED BY THE SUN.

THERE IS NOTHING IN THE UNIVERSE THAT REPRESENTS ONENESS MORE THAN THE SUN ITSELF. ESSENTIAL TO ALL LIFE; IT IS REVERED ACROSS ALL CULTURES AND RELIGIONS. WE LOOK TO THE SOURCE OF ALL LIFE, THE LIGHT OF THE CENTER OF THE WORLD / AND WE ARE REMINDED OF CLARITY: THE CLEARING OF ALL DOUBT, CONFUSION AND FOG. the CLEARING of cycles that are no longer necessary, that prevent us from basking in the light.

AS ONE DECIDES TO FULLY BREAK FREE OF THE SHAME CYCLE, THERE IS A HEALING AND REBIRTH FOR ALL GENERATIONS AFTER.