Gisele 'Ace' Lafon

This is a personal series of how I have processed grief. I am opening myself to others about the difficulties that I have faced over being estranged with a close family member, trying to pretend that everything is alright when it isn't always. To construct these images, I use elements from my own life to create a narrative of how my grief has affected my daily life and how I have been coping with my emotions. 

I use color to create moods that illustrate my grief. Making my skin a sickly yellow-green shows that I feel out of place in my own home because of my own negative emotions. I use neon orange underpaintings to contrast the cool palette applied on top, making it stand out more. This is shown in The Looking Glass where the purples and blues pop a bit more. I do this to illustrate mundane tasks and how my grief has affected me more than I've realized. I am opening a part of myself that is difficult to put into words and sometimes even paint. Creating these artworks has helped me process my emotions more and how things are now different from what they once were.