Narcissus (2019), Ink on Paper Series
ILLUSTRATION
Buggy Bloom (2021) - Series
These self portraits were made by merging my outer and inner worlds, in homage of my inner child- who I'd stifled and masked away for too many years. It began with the idea of embracing the weirdo neurodivergent kid inside me who was bug obsessed- who loved to examine, read about, and play with insects . This series is my first time experimenting with colour in my ink portraiture, as well as marrying my more realistic illustration style with my cartoonish doodles. I like the tension created by balancing elegance and play, beauty and bugs, as well as colour against the stark monochromatic ink sketches.
Narcissus (2019), Ink on Paper Series
This collection evolved through tying together self portraiture with floating thoughts on the tale of Echo and Narcissus from Ovid's Metamorphosis. I use self portraiture to explore and reclaim my identity from a world that- as a queer, mad, ill, WOC- fights for my erasure.
Echo is portrayed as a compliant, lovesick nymph who loses her voice (and her life) while pining after the proud and self-righteous Narcissus. While Narcissus lives on as the jonquil flower, eternally dipping toward the mirrored surface of the water, Echo becomes a detached voice void of agency and power. Unable to vocalize or advocate for herself, she is doomed to repeat the words she hears from others.
This series explores the conflicting ideologies of the Madonna-whore dichotomy: the purity of the meek and submissive versus the obstinance of the self-acceptant/self-appreciative woman. Drawing from a Catholic upbringing, I created these works to subvert the idea of vanity as a sin, and instead, make space for conversations about female-empowerment within a culture that both idolizes and demonizes femininity and the female body.
Other Series & Works
