Vulnerable and Emotional Portrait Series

I'm a portrait artist bringing attention to emotional health, vulnerability, and the willingness to let others into our lives. I'm a single mother of two. Instead of letting my divorce harden me or close me off, I am embracing the raw and real feelings that come from entering this new phase of my life. My portraits are created with pencil, charcoal, watercolor, and found objects, respectively. They are meant to push you out of your comfort zone and into a realm of vulnerability.

Gaslighting

These portraits powerfully provoke emotions that we can each identify with, ranging from sorrow and anger, to bravery and joy. There is a stigma around anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. This body of work challenges that by bringing attention to emotional health, vulnerability, and the willingness to let others into our lives. The viewer is confronted with feelings which we each go through but rarely shed light on.

Found Objects

In todays society, it seems that feelings are frowned upon; but without them we'd all be sociopaths. We try to present ourselves as strong, independent, and perfectly content at all times. This is an outer layer, a shell, that we hide behind. It is a headshot, but a headshot is meant to be the best first presentation of what we look like, it doesn't tell the whole story. It doesn't show who we really are. Everybody has a story. There's more to each person than what meets the eye.

Watercolor

It's vulnerable to let people in, to see the real you. What you struggle with. What hurts you. What you fear. What you hope for. What excites you. What you truly feel.

Frustrated

I have an open space in my heart and in my life. Instead of thinking about it as empty, I'm thinking of it as open: open to opportunity, open to love, open to God.