I am a very acquisitive person - I grab up anything that intrigues me. I surround myself with objects, but each old glass jar and knick knack and moss-covered bark sliver and plastic shard I add to the shelves in my room is placed there with care and intentionality. These objects serve not only as experiential markers, but also as providers of familiarity and a sense of history in their placement. In the past I have struggled with a sense of detachment and of compartmentalizing my view of myself and of the depth of my relationships; and in doing so, effectively distanced myself from a sense of familiarity, personal history, and closeness. Physically, swapping between my parents’ houses after their divorce evoked that same feeling of uprootedness, which drove me to find comfort again through being in my room.

Midway through junior year I started taking photos and videos of everything around me - a sort of acquisitory documentation. At first it felt like I was contributing to digital clutter, but as someone who constantly inhabits my memories, I eventually realized I was creating a valuable documentation of my experiences and personal state. Similarly, having physical objects that remind me of a certain time not only help to keep memories that would otherwise be easily forgotten, alive, but distinct.

Collage for me serves as organization of this jumble of experiences. Both physical and emotional sentiment become precious over time; collecting them in one space, whether my room or my art, infuses this care into a place that cannot easily become covered in lasting and unreachable dust.

Though I consider my experiences with deep seriousness in order to find both greater objectivity and emotional connection, at heart I will never sacrifice my joyful appreciation of all that surrounds me. I think it is important to protect and encourage a childlike playfulness; this has become an essential facet of my work. I ease into my creative process by creating pages and pages of colorful textures in acrylic that become the base for my collage. Solemnity and beauty and play will forever be intertwined in considering what is precious to me.

As a singer I listened to constantly last year has said, there is a “vertigo sense of the past in the present” that permeates our experiences. I choose to embrace that in order to have a stronger sense of my own history, but also to create a distinctness, in treating every moment and object with consideration and appreciation, that allows for better clarity - and purer joy - in navigating my own future.