Patricia

I wanted to use my art to express nostalgia despite each viewer being unique and through these works connect from shared childhood familiarities. Going into these pieces, I wanted to experiment and build on my skills and limits as an artist. I have only done 2-dimensional artworks. I commonly use the mediums: digital art, acrylic paint, and sketching in most works. I enjoy using these mediums because I find that they give a lot of freedom for experimentation on how I decide to paint, choose colors, etc. An aim in all my works is to express sides of my personality that I cannot in words, and by doing so, reach out to people who see some sides of themselves in me.

My first piece, Float, was an attempt to digitally illustrate the fear of growing up and the toxicity of being stuck in this mindset. I used the color: bright pink to represent youth, ignorance, and insanity. The color blue represents reality and responsibilities, surrounding the woman.

As a child, I was obsessed with a specific fluffy pink dress everywhere I went; thus, one I associate with youth. The lady clings onto the garment despite it no longer fitting her body to showcase her fear and hesitation to grow into an adult, using it as a shield from the blue surrounding. This work was inspired by children's storybooks hence the 2-dimensional style and exaggerated shapes.

My next piece, Midnight Monster, is a clay sculpture. I wanted this piece to show the relationship of childhood trauma to fears in adulthood, sometimes leading to irrational fears. I decided to portray this by making the subject one of the most common childhood fears: monsters under the bed. I wanted to place the monster under the bed in a new light, one that does not only appear frightening, but pitiful; thus I made the hand positioned in a way that it does not only appear to be crawling out of the bed but also pulled in.

Additionally, I added flowers to showcase the "blooming" of new fears and trauma from these childhood experiences. The popcorn box is an example of this: horror movies. Additionally, the faces sculpted in the knuckles were meant to further symbolize trauma and agony. The eyes were meant to make the hand look disturbing yet pitiful from its tears. I wanted to make the monster under the bed not only pitiful, but relatable, and the longer viewer watches the sculpture, the more they realize a piece of them is found in this monster under their bed.