Artist's Statement

The goal of my sustained investigation was to explore how popular culture and digital media shape our identities, memories, and perception of ourselves. I attempted to explore aspects of my own life and identity through the lens of other artists: filmmakers, photographers, web designers, other painters, etc. I wanted my portfolio to feel like leaving the theater after watching a life changing movie, both aspirational and reflective of difficult truths. However, much of my plan was derailed when my family and I were displaced by wildfires and I had to adapt to an entirely new medium. Unable to continue oil painting or recover unfinished pieces, I had to make do with a sketchbook and an old iPad. While learning an entirely new medium was not the experimentation I had foreseen for my portfolio, I have done my best to embrace the new possibilities and challenges of digital art (namely, a drawing app that allows for a virtually unlimited number of tools and layers and a persistently crashing iPad). The format also led me to investigate more about the digital world and its role in our lives, as technology had become such an integral part of my process.