Artist Statement
My artwork investigates the mental and physical effects of trauma on the body. It explores the ways traumatic experiences can shape one’s identity and affect one’s attitude, behavior, and personality. This power, contrasted with the fragility of the human psyche, conveys the difficulty survivors face daily. Traumatized people often “become” their experiences, and lose touch with the here and now. These experiences create distance and disconnection – not only from family and peers, but also from one’s self. In feeling absent from your own body, you become a stranger to yourself. I use sculpture as a means of reestablishing that lost connection, while attempting to understand the reason for it. While it is my personal mission to overcome the pain of my trauma, I have found that connecting to my truth encourages others to do the same.
