Mini zine and prints in store.

A self-portrait series exploring the body and inner world of the artist. This ongoing series explores the push and pull of belonging to this body, while reintroducing myself to it on my terms. Bliss and confinement. Pains and pleasures. The control placed upon this body, and the freedoms experienced through it.

I couldn’t put a lot of these feelings into words. Conflicting feelings of objectification, freedom, control, play, trauma, pleasure, power, dismissal, joy, ecstasy, intimacy, self-love and self-criticism. Experiences of treating myself as a machine for productivity and fearing rest or softness; being treated by others as an object or means to an end, rather than a whole human being; how I felt my femininity and fertility swallow up my other identities; the daily security measures you engage in as a woman and still get groped, catcalled, stalked, used, attacked.

But I love this vessel so deeply. It can run so fast, play, swim, climb, laugh, shout, lift, dance. It hugs my loved ones and carries me to mountain tops. It’s the foundation for every lived experience. I don’t want to lose sight of its love, warmth, playfulness and joy.

Poppies feature heavily. They remind me of home. My grandmothers, homeland, core memories and ancestors. Their resilience inspires me as I remember finding them growing through cracks in concrete. Flowers may remind of fertility and traditional femininity. But certain poppies are also harvested for opium - ecstasy, loss of control and harm.