I'm a foster care survivor. I visually narrate stories of resilience using art as a tool for healing and transformation.
Art In Translation
Adverse Circuitry, 2021
Paper and Digital Media, 16 x20
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In this piece, I am attempting to show the internal and external complexity of child abuse and how it impacts the brain. Internally, childhood trauma has major implications on brain function and development. Using life records reflecting my own actual accounts of child abuse at an early age allows the viewer to explore the weight and capture the realities of trauma. I am attempting to help the viewer understand that trauma creates neurotoxicity in the brain when the hypothalamus does not regulate high levels of a hormone called cortisol (the stress hormone), affecting the brain circuitry at every facet and sometimes has long-term adverse effects on one's external physical health, behavior, and mental well-being.
2nd Place Winner at the Juried Exhibition, Things That Remind Us.
9th Street Studio, Wichita Falls, TX
www.9thstreetstudios.com for purchase
Ethol and the Parasite, 2021
Digital Media and Paper, 16x20
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I come from a long line of drug addiction and alcoholism. I would describe it as a parasite, hard to fight as my family has fought many bouts with it. In this piece, I am depicting art and reality. This is a document from my birth records, while in the wound my mother visited the emergency room, most likely due to issues of breathing. The record reflects that her Ethanol (ETHOL or alcohol content) level was at 354 mg/dL. ETHOL contents between 300- 400 mg/dL are considered fatal levels because of possible respiratory depression- slow and ineffective breathing that can result in death or coma. The drawing depicts a raw emotion of how I saw addiction at an early age, as just a matter of choice. However, addiction is more complex than just decision making, but takes a toll on the body and brain just as trauma does to the child who experiences the effects of family addictions. My hope with this piece is to educate the viewer that addiction is not simplistic by nature but often comes with stigmas that many times are misunderstood by society and individuals affected by the addiction.
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A Stained Tub of Woes, 2022, (Collaboration with 9th Street Studios) ​
This sculpture is a critical view of hope, trauma, and grief based on the artist's lived experience. The artist gives the viewer insight into an abusive experience as a child, having to sleep in a bath tub for punishment while in foster care because of enuresis. The exterior aesthetics of the tub signify hope that cradles the child that is in despair. The documents glued to the interior of the tub, are his real child welfare documents- the writings and perspectives of others about his experiences while in the foster care system. It is a reminder that his grief is real and that there is a stark contrast in how the child sees himself in his experience versus how others interpret his experience. The artist sees the words as judgments, desiring them to be just as fluid as water, wanting them to exit down the drain, but knowing this trauma will leave a lifetime full of stains on the way.