Ferocity & Fragility
I painted these to remind you that even though sometimes you may feel fragile, you are also so, so fierce. I hope you can see your spirit in each work— that you can recognize the demons you’ve faced, the battles you’ve fought, and the resilience you’ve cultivated along the way. You are always changing. Always shifting. Always growing. And that’s a positively glorious thing.
Artist Introspection
When I was younger, I saw the world in “black and white.” A byproduct of this all-or-nothing dichotomous thinking was a failure to understand the nuances and complexities all around us.
Eventually (long story short) I grew to understand that humans are far more nuanced and complex than I had previously believed.
I also realized humans can change, and we are not locked into a particular characteristic. And these states do not define us. We are not perpetually “are” or “are not” insert-whatever-emotion/characteristic/etc. Our feelings and attributes seem to sit on a spectrum and shift depending on myriads of influence.
When you are in a state of weakness, do not define yourself as weak. You are not weak. You are experiencing weakness. You are not depressed. You are feeling depressed. Or, on the flip side- you are not happy. You are feeling happiness. Etc.
And feeling one of these doesn’t forever mean your are that one state, either. As a human, you have the ability to fluidly shift between states. Sometimes you can experience seeming contradicting states at the same time (Superposition?) And no matter which state(s) you experience, they do not determine your value as a living being.
This series speaks to the idea that we are a walking paradoxes. That the smallest fluctuations in either our exterior or interior world can shift our experience of the world- our experience of being ourself. But that we shouldn’t wallow in frustration about this nature. In time, we learn not just to understand the shifts, but to appreciate them, and command them.
As time sailed along, I learned how to ride those waves instead of being smashed against the cliffs. Learning how to dip into whatever energy your current situation calls for is an inherent human ability that can be cultivated.
Through time, this ability becomes an armor of experience that we wear to survive and thrive through both the extraordinary and the mundane.
I painted these to remind you that even though sometimes you may feel fragile, you are also so, so fierce. I hope you can see your spirit in each work— that you can recognize the demons you’ve faced, the battles you’ve fought, and the resilience you’ve cultivated along the way. You are always changing. Always shifting. Always growing. And that’s a positively glorious thing.