being gentle
My middle name is Gentle. The following artworks utilize creativity to liberate my inner child and heal from a traumatic past. My childhood was defined by s*xual abuse and domestic violence perpetrated by my father. Growing up, my mental health struggles caused by this abuse were treated as the scapegoat by my biological family. This resulted in me being hospitalized in the psychiatric ward five times against my will during my youth.
When I spoke out about my father’s abuse publicly (for my own protection), he sued me for defamation. I countersued for CSA, DV, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Members of my biological family attempted to bully me, claiming that I was lying, mentally unstable, and/or trying to get attention. This occurred to my face, behind my back, and publicly in the newspaper. Sadly, I’ve witnessed that many people choose to live in denial instead of looking critically at issues closest to them.
Ending intergenerational trauma is no easy task. I learned to redefine family on my own terms: chosen family rather than biological essentialism. All of this is to say that I aim to be gentle with myself and with the world; gentle is not synonymous with meek. I will be gentle through my resilience, standing up for justice whenever possible. In a world wrought with suffering and oppression, I hope to utilize my privilege, creativity, and voice to help shift the system and support fellow survivors.
More completed works will be added to this series with time.
438 Dartmouth Rd
Medium: Mixed-media on warped canvas board (acrylic, oil pastel, archival photograph of the artist as a child, ink, dried ranunculus, found glitter hearts, and adhesive)
Dimensions: 16” x 12”
Year Completed: 2026
438 Dartmouth Rd. began in 2014 as a painting of the property where I grew up. There was a sharp contrast between my meticulous representation of the trees, where I escaped to play, versus my psychological inability to paint the house, inside which I endured domestic violence and s*xual abuse.
This observation led me to imagine new possibilities for the space as well as for my own catharsis and collective healing. It is my hope that humans ends wars within and with others.
Girl / Grilled (The weight on the other side of the mirror)
Medium: Mixed-media sculpture (acrylic self-portrait on paper, cut journal entries, and personal archival material adhered to scrap metal from a salvaged fire-pit)
Dimensions: 11” x 9” x 1.5”
Year Completed: 2026
GIRL / GRILLED ( the weight on the other side of the mirror ) offers a glimpse into my invisible weight: the psychological trauma of gender-based violence. The female nude on the front is a self-portrait that I had stored away in my journal for years. I began painting myself nude as an attempt to connect with and claim my body. The word ‘claim’, rather than ‘reclaim’, is used because I never felt I had autonomy over her body until adulthood due to the abuse I endured throughout childhood and adolescence.
The back of the sculpture includes more segments cut from my various journals as well as documentation from my past. ‘GRILLED’ in the title refers to the sculptural medium (scrap metal from a fire-pit I salvaged off the curb) of the piece as well as to the constant scrutiny, doubt, and harassment survivors often endure from family, peers, political systems, and society.