Artist statement
My work conveys empowering messages through hand-lettered phrases, nested amongst layered patterns. I wrote these words in reaction to collected stories on individuals’ secrets, fears, or thoughts to bring in a more social and personal aspect to my work. I have found emotion to be one of the few things that is universally relatable, so while I want my work to be interpreted in the viewer’s own way, I also invite the viewer to realize that humans are not alone in their emotions.
My collection of prints and reclaimed kitschy animal figurines are meant to be vessels for display of my empowering messages. I used a unique visual combination, influenced by my own sense of whimsy and quirk. The animals and nested phrases represent those two works, the idea of comfort and warmth also play a large role in what I want my work to portray. The viewer can read these messages and emotionally parallel what they read to something he or she is currently experiencing, and realize that there are many others who experience the same.
The available works are the originals from the 2015 Junior Thesis show. No prints or reproductions have been made. Thank you for giving these works new life — I decided it was time to let them go, after they’d been hidden away for several years.
