Artist Statement

 

I began this series thinking I was speaking for the masses about our individual identities being a societal construct, about ‘dressing up’ to be cookie-cutter images of who we are told to be, and about our beauty being bound underneath our pretenses.

 

Later, I realized, (as life took me through a whirlwind of learning experiences via break-ups, hook-ups, stake-outs), that my art was actually speaking directly to me. We dress up, put on makeup, and show the beauty of our curves, all the while masking and binding the pain that lies beneath the surface. Sometimes, life interrupts our regularly scheduled program and we wish we had been dealt a different hand. However, it is during those times that we are given the opportunity to surrender what we think we know and give our broken hearts to something real.

 

During one of those seasons in my life, I finally realized how bound I truly am and how I’ve been letting society, family, men, sex, religion, work, and everything else in between, determine my identity. My lack of creating appropriate boundaries has caused me a lot of frustration and has kept me from fully living. My lack of not knowing who I am has caused me to choose lovers who, equally, don’t have a clue about the treasures that lie within me. My lack of seeking my Creator and understanding His boundless love has left me thirsty as my cup runs empty over and over again.

 

I want to set aside the distractions that seek to disable and warp my reality… I want to stop playing the victim and assuming its role because, the truth is, I hurt people too… I want to live and love, completely and abundantly, the way Nature intended… Imagine that… I want my beauty uncovered, unmasked, and unbound… I want to be free…

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If we ever plan to meet our authentic selves- who we were designed to be, we will need to wake up, smell our beauty… and live… at once.