Mixed Media
Super Model and 1992 were created side by side during a period when my life was shifting dramatically, right after high school. Both pieces were built with layers of acrylic, ink, collage, and tape, each medium chosen to capture the complexity of emotions I carried at the time. The images of my high school girlfriend became central to the works, one showing her fierce and determined side as she pursued modeling in New York, and the other capturing her sweetness and joy at our school’s Renaissance festival. Together, the works reveal the duality of who she was to me and the conflicting emotions I felt while navigating distance, change, and the fragile weight of young love. In their pairing, I see not only portraits of her but also reflections of myself, struggling with separation, longing, and the uncertainty of who I was becoming.
The themes woven into these two pieces echo a larger story of youth, friendship, and loss. The references to New York, the pivotal year of 1992, and even the inside jokes scattered throughout speak to a very specific time that still resonates deeply with me. At the heart of 1992 sits the phrase “We’ve stood together miles apart,” words that became both a testament to endurance and a marker of the bond that survived beyond circumstance. Meanwhile, Super Model embodies the fierceness of distance, the raw edge of heartbreak, and my misplaced frustration toward a city that simply became the backdrop to personal pain. Looking at them now, I recognize them as the beginnings of my voice as an artist, not only for their technical exploration but for their honesty in capturing the complexity of love, loss, and the fragile steps of coming of age.