Artist Statement

As a woman, I am constantly worrying about how I am perceived, and how it relates to my physical safety. Being a woman is to make yourself small, palatable, bite sized.  In this body of work, I explore what it would mean for women to unapologetically take up space. What would it look like for women to occupy the night without fear? How does one exert spatial and personal autonomy? Violence against women limits our personal freedom to wander as we please. The shackles of risk aversion are evident in the way we move about space.

The night, and all it represents has always intrigued me. I’m fascinated by how we step into a more authentic version of ourselves when the day ends. This embrace of the night, and the aesthetic it holds, often pushes up against my gender. Adolescence leads us to explore and broaden our world, but for a young girl it narrows as the world slams the door in our face. This inclination to spread our wings is thwarted by the growing realization of the threat that is directed at us before we even get the opportunity to become women. Suddenly, grown men catcall you even though you’re only thirteen. We all have a multitude of stories on why we began to shrink ourselves.

 As a representational oil painter, I depict the figure within familiar spaces (parks, bus stops, living rooms, and alleyways) creating a world where my characters can embrace their desire for the power to choose. My work explores themes related to personal and societal discord, identity, gender, and tradition. For instance, in Rage Becomes Her, a woman is pictured crouched atop a couch in a dimly lit room. She evokes feelings like anger and paranoia, which are often seen as unacceptable or undesirable expressions in women. In contrast, the piece Picnic, depicts a woman seated upon a blanket at night with her head tilted to the sky. She appears oblivious to her surroundings: eyes closed and headphones on. Her relaxed state contradicts the norms we tell women to keep them safe, like don’t wear headphones at night, and remain ever vigilant.

My work is inspired by shared experiences discussed when in communion with other young women. Universal frustrations like occupying space while maintaining an awareness of inherent risks posed to women’s safety often inspire my moody scenes. By using light and shadow, I create physical tensions and an atmospheric actualization of this sense of internal psychological perturbation.