I’m feeling frustrated by my lack of ability to coherently put into words just how much it meant to me to have my solo show, (DIS)CONNECT, this past month as the Makers Gallery and Studio. It seems like the blinking of the cursor is mocking my inefficiency of the English language, slowly ticking away my confidence with each flicker, reminding me that sometimes my greatest challenge is crafting words, not images. Yet still, I will try.

At my deepest core I am just thankful, thankful for the opportunity, and thankful for all the people who took the time to come see my drawings. I find the process of putting my work out into the world to be both rewarding and terrifying, a slow cooking mixture of contradictions that stirred my confidence levels between low and high. My work draws upon a lot of personal narratives, and exhibiting my work removes the proverbial confidence mask to reveal a vulnerability I don’t normally share in everyday conversation. Yet, I’m also proud of the work that I made in the past two years, appreciative of the journey I took to create it and the outcome of seeing it displayed together.

So, thank you for sharing my journey with me, whether it was as a fellow artist who I bounced ideas off of, or a gallery for giving me an opportunity, or as a student who posed as my subject matter, or a friend that listened to my anxieties and triumphs for two years, or as a person who showed up to see my show at the conclusion: thank you.

My journey isn’t over, but my destination is changing. After spending a lot of time exploring the human figure and the precarious mental state of the individual in my work, I’m refocusing my subject matter to the concept of the home as a sanctuary for memories and secrets. I’m really jazzed on this new series and inspired by the steady flow of ideas coming my way. I hope you can continue to be a partner in my process.