Real Isn't How You Are Made, Said the Skin Horse. It's Something That Happens to You. Painting

Her face intentionally unfocused to reflect identity as allusive, this conceptual piece was painted for my exhibition, Object Lessons. The connect the dots painting takes its title from the storybook, The Velveteen Rabbit. Becoming an object of desire can have an unwelcome end as we pass through puberty. I wanted to be "me" and was intimidated by the women I observed in advertisements. Unaware that humans communicate as objects, I resisted. It took some time before I realized I was deeply fascinated with the commercial language I'd rejected. Semiotics, which explains how signs (as in symbols) are read and interpreted was also helpful in understanding the nature of how we communicate visually. Most of all, psychoanalysis revealed to me how identity is pieced together. Who I am can still feel confounding. And as simple as a connect the dots exercise in a coloring book.