Darkness follows wherever it walks.
A shadow that dwells,
And tendrils that talk
Here in the mind,
Reality is fragile,
And some corners are…unkind
It comes in dreams,
When I stray to far
Towards tears and seams.
And in nightmares, too,
That get too dark,
And I lose the light of the moon.
Though in my dreams it haunts me,
I can’t help but think
That maybe it’s Friendly
What if our demons aren’t enemies?
What if they are protectors, creators?
What if they are healers?
What if they’re musicians in a band,
playing the soundtrack for our life?
They only react to what you see,
what you feel, and what you dream.
What if they were forced to play
things they didn’t like?
They tried to yell
they tried to fight
and then they tried to hide.
It wasn’t your fault, how you grew
the voices put into your head
shame spreads in the mind,
it kills them inside,
and makes you wish you were dead.
But what if we’re gentle and ask them their needs?
What if we held out our hand?
we might actually find
that if we are kind
our demons are helpers instead.
11x14”
Acrylic on Canvas
2023
Available
It is a piece about using art to process inner demons and how it gives us a safe space to freely express the sides of ourselves that we try to hide away. When you're a sensitive neurodivergent blob masquerading as a hyper-independent impenetrable chaos dragon, it's impossible not to take on extra weight, even if it's the mask you wear getting heavier and heavier.
This past year I found myself questioning all of my behaviors and beliefs. I questioned everything I knew about my identity, trying to sort out what is Mask and what is me. I noticed that after I started the unmasking journey, little …quirks… bubble back up to the surface that I forgot were there.
Art gave me the space to be able to explore all of this territory as if it were new, as if I'm getting to know myself again for the first time.
This process of shadow work taught me to remember to call myself into question and process behaviors, trauma responses, and social conditioning that don't resonate with me and no longer serve a purpose for me to be a functioning human, and rebuild the neural pathways to heal instead of hide.
It reminded me to exorcise regularly.
2022
This small print is perfect for the person who collects a lot of art or is on the move <3 matted and packaged for the safety of the print, sure to bring you joy for a long time to come!
11x14”
Acrylic on Canvas
2022
Available
The mask gets thick, and I fill the cracks with mud until I can’t recognize myself. I’m spiky, but the spikes are pointed in, and every time I move, they poke in further. Many of the things that I thought were shining facets of my soul were actually prismatic fractures of shattered glass.
Struggling with chronic mental health problems is absolutely exhausting. It’s been a fight ever since I was a kid to not succumb to my darkest thoughts, and the idea that this will continue on for as long as I inhabit this body gets so daunting and exhausting that sometimes I wonder how I’m gonna make it and find any kind of lasting tranquility or healing in it…
On the flip side… I feel like my experiences in shadow inform my understanding of the beauty of light and allow me to feel it in a way that a lot of people struggle to, and that’s the beauty I try to capture in my art… those moments of shining clarity are the ones that I continue dredging through the mud for… I guess they do say beauty hurts, huh?
2022
