About the artwork!

This is the painting that I am the most proud of. I painted this in 2020, during the pandemic, when my mental health was at an all time low. At that point I was really uncertain about many things, and I felt like I needed to prove my worth, just in case I would no longer be able to paint anymore in the future. 

 

To anyone else, it looks like a strange self portrait of a girl in a mirror in an environment cluttered with piles of art supplies, clothes, and other odd knick knacks. However, looking back, it was a plea for kindness and understanding from anyone who happened upon the portrait. As I painted everything I saw, I wanted to position the audience so that they could literally see the world from my point of view, during a time of vulnerability and loneliness. But it was also a challenge to my art skills up to that point. I wanted to see if I’d be able to paint a live subject, a background, and a still life without copying from any pictures. 

 

I spent quite a long time on this painting, and at the time, considered it to be my magnum opus. But I have changed a lot since then. I am happy I was able to walk out of that time period, and that I can now see the mistakes I’ve made while painting. Despite how hard I worked to create it at the time, it means I was able to improve. This is no longer a complete representation of who I am, but instead a snapshot of who I was, and my struggles at the time. When I look at this picture, I cringe at the reminders of my youth and the mistakes I made, but at the same time, I wish I can tell the girl in the painting that I am proud of her and that both happiness and meaningful sorrows wait for her in the future :)