Unrequited

My work explores the complexities of romantic love, heartbreak, and grief with images that disrupt familiar visual western cliches and romantic tropes. My images are both found and created in the studio because this work represents the process of going through the day to day without the person I once held close. Each day is different, and each day comes with different challenges that I have to face. By creating images that explore diverse metaphors, emotions, and experiences of romance, it symbolizes the complexity of relationships and what they represent to myself and to any other individuals who might relate.

I am fascinated by how intimacy can shape our personalities, our likes and dislikes, and our worldviews. When intimacy or a relationship fails, I question whether the versions of ourselves that were built within that relationship crumble or transform, either positively or negatively. I am not grieving the individual who is still alive today. I am grieving the loss of the person they were to me, and the loss of the version of myself that was built through that relationship.

My work allows me to work through my grief and express the layered emotions tied to heartbreak and love. I want the work to connect with others’ experiences and serve as a reminder that no one is alone in these feelings, and that everyone moves through grief in their own way.