Curatorial Rationale

This year my projects have circulated around the theme of adolescence, and the experiences and growth that come with it. Most of my work has utilized my peers as my subjects. This year not only have I continued this but I was able to culminate this through more advanced approaches to the work I have been doing over the past 2-3 years. This year I have been focused on reflecting on my experience of adolescence and the impact of my peers on each other as well as myself. Within adolescence I've grappled with ideas of loneliness, identity, mental health and incorporated aspects of gender and sexuality.

The mediums I've worked with this year are photo/video, textile and book design. My First Project Sterling is a short film incorporating both still images and video to romanticize life and moments that capture a special allure, playing with familiarity and the idea of routine and overall joy in the familiar. Recently I have become more in tune with myself and my independence. I think this piece plays with the line between the two, capturing something very mundane while simultaneously romanticized. I pulled inspiration from Sofia Coppola and her style of direction as a woman.

My second piece Solemnly Blue is a bojagi, a traditional Korean patchwork quilt, comprised of cyanotypes, stitched together with panels of hand-dyed indigo cotton, linen, muslin, and Korean ramie. This project explores the idea of culture, growth, and adolescence. I used 17 pictures of myself, one from each year of my life. Recently, I’ve felt very disconnected from my own memories, but looking through old photographs of myself and piecing together the familiar imagery made me think about my life as one continuum, as opposed to something fragmentary. This was my first time exploring self portraiture through photography and it became very reflective in respect to my other work, as I have generally avoided being my own subject.

My last and most recent piece Covid Girls is a Photobook diary composed of images from throughout my entire experience in highschool and as a photographer. This book was heavily inspired by the work of Justine Kurland and her book Girl Pictures and Abigail Heyman’s Growing up Female: a Personal Photo Diary. My images capture my best friends, mutual friends, former friends, and ones who have moved far away. I was able to capture them as they were, as a peer, and as someone whom they trust. The pandemic took a toll on everyone but happened to hit some of my friends particularly hard. But as with many teenagers, a lot of their troubles weren't visible, so my images capture mostly happy moments—moments when they felt pretty looking in the mirror, or when they felt silly or excited about going out. Capturing the best feelings most adolescent girls feel at some point or another. Aiming to record both teenage discomfort and the beauty of youth. Through my photos, I documented not only my growth as a photographer but also our individual and collective growth through communally lived experiences. These photographs became a diary of me, my friends, our relationships, and our experiences through Covid.

Through all of these pieces I've been able to explore adolescence and the teenage experience from a fictional angle, personal and interpersonal. All through the lens of my own experiences and the environments I have been in.