Through figurative painting I find ways to honor and grieve the fragile parts of myself I don’t always want to remember, but more often than not am too afraid to forget. Using watered down acrylic and inks,I paint the way my memory feels: quick, fragmented, unfinished. I use canvas in a very physical process, exploring the limits of my materials, while also encouraging them to move and react naturally.My work stems from the feelings of abandonment and rejection caused by my identity, and often reinforced by those closest to home. Even still, I take an optimistic and ,I’d argue, even rebellious stance of joy. Creating more intensely through these past few years my work positions itself into an escape from the news, pairing loud saturated colors with quiet scenes of pleasure. I paint to capture the liveliness and intimacy of a quick moment turned memory: the kind that pulls you to a better perspective, like touching grass after scrolling on social media for hours on end. My pieces act as an excavation of memories I’ve buried deep and as a conservation to ones I wish to stay on the surface. It lies as a path to the viewer, to bring them back home to the people and places they too couldn’t bear to forget.