Stuck21 Painting

Running in place, head and heart floating high in the clouds grasping for air without any relief. Feet planted firmly, trapped in the in between. Stuck on pause. A new record skipping on the turntable. A rabbit caught in the barbed wire. A resistance, a desperation for progress. Stunted by the fear of the unknown. An obsession over the how, the when, the what ifs?, the what’s nexts? A complete disgust for the now, the present. Defensive, rebelliously impatient, defiantly ungrateful, paralyzed, floating, sinking, always staying, never going… stuck. _____ The Mirror collection is an exploration of who people are according to themselves vs. who people appear to be to others, and whether these two "identities" are actually one in the same or entirely different personas. The artist asks the question of whether or not one's sense of Self can exist without the context of who she is according to other people. The reflection one sees of themselves in a mirror is an inverted image of what others see - a mirror, the tool we use to view ourselves, is not even an accurate depiction of what we look like to others. The mirror is an unreliable source of reflection but it's ironically used daily to ensure "we look our best" or "look like ourselves" before facing other people. The artist is exploring the concepts of truth and perception as it relates to the Self, and whether or not the identities people claim as their own are naturally formed and inherited at birth or fabricated and curated over the years as a result of life experiences and the influence of other people. The artist used personal items including clothing, shoes and cosmetics to create these pieces, focusing on the juxtaposition between line work and fluid forms to express the tension between the varying degrees of masculine and feminine energies the artist has identified in herSelf.