Awakening

Awakening honors the process of growing up, by shifting from childlike delusion to painful reality that is infiltrated by the hurt inner child that is left behind. In my paintings and sculptures, I use symbolism to convey the complexities of these ideas. The moon moth motif repeatedly represents cycles and ephemerality. When the pupae enter the moth stage, the beautiful yet tragic moon moth’s days are numbered. Other themes, such as dusk, and pathways represent the transitions that we go through to reach our adult stage of life. My work uses nature motifs to not only draw comparisons to femininity, fertility and nature, but also to show that we are not alone, our own human experiences are reflected in each other and in the natural world. 

The pieces talk about the process of growing as a minority, my characters are female and some of them women of color, as I feel that this particular group that I belong to is underrepresented. Through these pieces I’m giving voice to my inner child who felt unwanted, and hope to relate to other young people who feel the same way.