Comfort & Safety
I always find myself going back to the themes of comfort and safety. What makes me feel comfortable? What makes me uncomfortable? How can I feel safe? Where and how do I feel unsafe? How can I make others feel this too? How can I explain my feelings to them? These questions have led me to delve deeply into this topic where I explore the answers and further questions in a variety of different mediums.
Cycles of Impermanence
2023 | Procreate | 2,360 x 1,640 px
I explored the ways in which I make a space home through things. As well as the cyclical nature of moving out and the impermanence of home as a place. This project is supposed to be viewed in a loop to emphasize its repetition. Recently, I moved about 6 times in 4 years most of which I moved alone. For me home is how I fill a space, how I make it my own.
This work was shown in the Tabula Rasa Gallary at the University of Cincinnati
Locked
For me being comfortable and feeling safe comes from being in control of my environment and often times alone. A locked door is a big part of that since I have often had people disregard my personal space and boundaries by refusing to knock and even unlocking my door. After living alone for a few years, it feels even more invasive and that sparked me to make this work. I now unconsciously lock doors as I close them to make sure others don’t come in or so that I know if they do. I chose to also include blankets, pillows, a relaxing aromatherapy candle, cinnamon rolls and calming music (howls moving castle theme in the rain), to make it feel more cozy and to include all of the senses. Each one of those things were actually from my room and help to make it a comfortable space and the door is taken from my house as well.
2023 | Interior Door, String lights, Comforter, Pillow, Black Chamomile Candle, Tray, Napkins, Container, Cinnamon Rolls, Youtube Video | 4’ x 8’
“Pick Me Up”
2023 | Tiramisu, Plastic Spoons, Paper, Camera | 02:30:00
In this performance, I made two tiramisu recipes into little cups and gave them out to students on campus. I use baking as comfort for when I have felt sad or lonely. I specifically like to make tiramisu or anything that would take a long time and be complicated. I recently learned that tiramisu means “pick me up” in Italian which became the inspiration for this project. I decided to give them out as a comment on a labor of love to be a pick me up to strangers in need without expecting anything in return. Seeing it brighten their day was one of the best experiences I have had on campus. I gave them out on campus because it was getting close to midterms and students are probably stressed and low on sleep. They may also be lonely and homesick if they live on campus. I wanted to give them the pick me up that tiramisu always did for me.
Solitary Comfort
This piece was an expansion on both Cycles of Impermanence and Locked. I wanted to expand on my room as a place of refuge and comfort but show my frustration with it being my only safe space and the tendency, I have to hide in my room which normally leads to bad mental and physical health. Although not completely evident from just this view, I designed this room with no doors and windows. There is no way out you are stuck in this cozy room that seemingly has everything you need to survive- food, coffee, entertainment, comfort. No matter how much a room has to sustain you, you cannot stay in it for ever, but you can't leave this one. I wanted this room to seem comfortable at first but become increasingly more uncomfortable and unbearable almost horror movie like, you are trapped. This is achieved by the truly awful anxiety inducing sound piece I made and the ominous red lighting that grows with intensity with every photograph. In the future i would like to animate this or make it an environment an audience could interact with to better show it being inescapeable.
2023 | Blender | 15’ x 15’
Anxiety Sound Piece
Cinnamon Roll Bakery
2023 | Blender | 37’ x 37’
In an exercize of make believe ideation I came up with the idea of a cinnamon roll that also has a bakery inside of it that also sells cinnamon rolls which may or may not also be bakeries. This was my first time using blender and I both loved it and hated it —I reminds me of coding. To me cinnamon rolls are portable warmth and comfort. So, I got to thinking what if it was a place that gave off similar vibes. one set in a fantastical world where a real cinnamonroll could be a bakery. I decided on a bakery since fresh baked goods are arguably the most warm and comforting thing ever and I thought it was cute that it would sell cinnamon rolls. I did however have a few problems with blender and couldn’t figure out how to paint on the scenes in the windows or the lettering on the sign of the bakery and the grass needs to be mowed a bit, but I imagine that the creators of this wonderful place are more prepocupied with baking to care.
Stay
This peice was an expansion on the concept of wish. My wish is for my current parter and I to stay together. Every year around our anniversry I get nervous that we are going to seperate because of a similar thing happening suddenly in a previous long term relationship. Within this peice there are many different ways of wishing, manifesting, and looking to the future—a crystal ball, shooting star, tarot cards, and a wishing stone. There are also elements to calm my anxiety since I also wish to be more at ease around our anniversery— camomile tea, and a sage burning stick, and candles.
2023 | oil ink on paper, linolium block |
