Artist
Statement

In my artistic journey, nature and wildlife consistently emerge as central motifs and two profound themes which have been predominant throughout my life. Even with my frequently changing interests, art and nature have remained constants, shaping my identity as both an artist and an individual. Creating art depicting nature allows me to not only share my fascination with wildlife, but also escape from the daily struggles I face.

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In today's society, it often feels like I am expected to conform to preconceived notions of identity, where I am required to prove my adequacy as a woman, as a queer person, and as someone grappling with mental health issues. From my experience within the art world, I have faced a lot of pressure to expose who I am and market my art through these categories of my identity. I feel as though, because of this current culture of the art world, my art is not valuable without these pieces of myself acting as the main focus. This puts me, as well as other artists, in uncomfortable situations where we must expose ourselves and/or hesitate when being offered support for issues such as our mental health.

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Though this struggle continues to try and make its way into my current art practice, I am trying not to lose sight of what I love to create the most. I love to produce artwork that pushes my technical abilities and presents nature as I see it, showcasing not just the conventionally attractive elements of nature, but the nontraditional ones as well. This artwork I have produced is more representative of me as an artist, than anything the artworld deems as more “valuable.” I encourage those viewing my art to understand that I have chosen fulfillment over personal exploitation and know that I will make art about pieces of my identity on my own terms, not the art world’s.