ABOUT ME

Thoughts Behind the Margin Series

Interview with ALLSHEMAKES

A teenage girl nervously sits at her desk. She feels small and stupid. A revelatory studio session jolted me back to memories of my days as an anxious high school student when learning became increasingly arduous for me. I would retreat to the margins of my paper daily and pack them with rhythmic lines and patterns. In retrospect, I believe it was my coping mechanism to help alleviate the state of my severe stress and anxiety.  This recollection led to further exploration of new work involving these comforting methods that I relied on as a teenager and it dawned on me that I was revisiting an entity that consequently contributed to my lifelong feeling of intellectual inferiority.  This paradigm shift in my work has seemingly altered how I approach painting.  The morphing of the process from that which previously consisted of spontaneity and color, to the integration and intentionality of new mediums, repetitive lines, shapes and directional patterns has pushed me off the precipice of comfort.   How I employ linework in this new work is a direct correlation to youthful days of self-deprecation and self-preservation.  On a larger scope, these works question the longevity of labels (self-appointed or other), the personal and collective experiences that lead to these false narratives, the value we place on labels, how much we personally contribute to them as well as the impact they have on our lives. Appropriately titled “Margins”, this series of paintings cast emphasis on the stigma and global issues of marginalization,  particularly those associated with mental health, but on a more personal level, serve as a reminder that perceived classifications of failure can be unlearned revealing that truth, courage and vulnerability have the power to recreate the story.