In this body of work, emotional vulnerability is explored through collecting experiences and photographs in relation to the struggles with emotional dysfunction and memories of trauma. The collection of information was gathered by prompting others through social practice to share their experiences, then these were processed and represented visually through black and white drawings. In this research, themes emerge, and common threads are identified such as, self-medication, the yearn to escape reality, piles, trash, and other personal items. These commonalities are identified as the weight. The accumulation of physical objects parallels chronic emotional intensity that can stunt the will to carry the weight further. This work examines the role of dysfunctional relationships within ourselves and others. This was a response to Tracey Emin’s “My Bed” installation where she set up her bed including the remains of a depressive episode. The interactions from others solidarity within these memories became the keys into the next phase of this research.
In the second part of this body, the collection of stories and memories manifest inside of repetition and motif that open doors to a dream state. Each illustration is disjointed and then reassembled in its presentation, together all as one. The high chroma mixed media illustrations exchanges exact memory with flashes and moments of remembrance that creates a duality of revealing everything and nothing simultaneously. The weight presses down as we are all able to visualize our very own curation of hell. Each painting together creates a language of sarcasm and specific open-endedness that encourages universal connection with the viewer. Artists that have informed this body include, Sofia Rozaki, Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, and Frida Kahlo.
Do you feel the crushing weight?
Do you let it consume you?
Will you send it back to hell?
