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16 x 20 in

Acrylic on canvas

As much of my art changes in meaning as I work, this piece ended up taking on a life of its own. It is both a celebration and a story. It is an expression of the joy and silliness and creativity I am reclaiming from my childhood. It is a love letter to the little girl obsessed with fairies and fireflies and “Tangled” and writing stories and singing and drawing characters with my sister and listening to Coldplay on an old CD player. Creating helps to center and ground me, just as it always has.

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In this mixed media piece that combines both traditional and digital drawings, I refer to Gen Z as "The Lost Generation" in the sense that it will be the first generation to have grown up with increasingly limitless technology at its fingertips.

There is Too Much Information out there. And it is readily available to us. At any time of day, in any state of mind, with or without the company of others; it is always there. I worry about the impact this overload of ideas and images and infinite other things you can find in a simple search can have on the developing mind, especially younger/future generations. I’m scared that as a society we are forgetting things that are really important. Things that make us human. We have to remind ourselves how to be human.

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6 x 9.5 in

Acrylic, pen on paper

To live in denial is to forget. Be careful. Stay sweet.

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8 x 10 in

Acrylic, pencil on paper

I painted this while feeling creatively blocked, and it spontaneously ended up being one of my favorite pieces from this particular moment in time. I was drinking a Diet Coke.

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19.5 x 25 in

Charcoal, colored pencil on paper

"They see what they know, so hold onto those who know what they see." This is the message I convey in an animated version of this piece. It is important to have people in your life who see you for who you are and continue to choose, day after day, to love and support you.

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8 x 10 in

Paint marker on paper

I don’t recognize you, mirror girl.

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18 x 24 in (cropped image)

Ink on paper

A calm, moody piece with no inherent meaning, done for a Drawing I assignment at College of DuPage.

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16 x 20 in

Oil pastel on paper

My attempt to replicate Jean-Michel Basquiat's "Untitled" piece from 1981 for my Drawing I class. His playful, “childlike” style stands out to me, reminding me that art is a flow of energy, reminding me why I ever picked up a pencil in the first place.

This piece was for my final critique from spring semester of 2023 at the College of DuPage. The Arts Center at COD served as a source of safety, friendship and peace for me during a time when I needed it most.

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4 x 3.5 in

Watercolor on paper

Sonder (noun): the realization that each passerby has a life as unique and vivid as one’s one. Every face is different, as well as the story behind that face. When brought together, our attributes and behaviors can complement one another. We take with us tiny aspects of hundreds of strangers and acquaintances; our identities form in tandem with one another. We forget that we are connected, that we are strikingly similar and perfectly unique.