Artist statement for my body of artwork

  My body of work has had a consistent theme of the human condition. My work as a whole has served as a study of this, and each completed piece has been a unique experience. I have always been fascinated with humans, the human experience, the commonalities we share in those experiences, and the unique emotion of empathy. Since I was young, I struggled with verbal communication and was also profoundly shy, so I spent most of my time observing others and gathering how they were feeling based on their words, facial expressions, and body language. I found myself empathizing with others, and incredibly fascinated with these uniquely human experiences that we all seem to share: love, sadness, longing, despair.

​      After being a passive observer for most of my life, I decided to use this as inspiration for my work. I thought I could use my observations to create artwork that others could view and empathize with as well. In my work, I wanted to represent those uniquely human emotions that I watched others have around me, recreate them, and allow the viewers to have a relatable empathic moment.

      The work is for me. Creating those experiences that allow me to create a human connection and understand the human experience help me to better understand the world around me. This process started as a way to better communicate and better connect to others. After a while, the process became addictive. Learning about others, studying different aspects of humans as a whole and the way we find connections has been a truly profound journey. If anyone else viewing the work is able to find that kind of connection in it, find a relatable emotion, or understand their story, then that is all just a bonus to what I have done.

Sometimes, our emotions are isolating- whether they be deeply happy or profoundly sad. Then, without fail, we see those same feelings expressed in the body language of the people surrounding us every day. Keep your eyes open. If you’re like me, you’ll find the human condition beautifully connective and poetic.