Mixed Media

Distraction - 2022

16" x 20"

Oil, acrylic, colored pencil on canvas board

This piece shows the struggles people face, specifically students, when it comes to the distractions that come along with being an active social media user. The endless (and usually unimportant) notifications from these apps tend to take away the users focus from the more important things in life.

Fitting Room - 2022

16" x 20"

Oil, colored pencil, collaging on canvas board

This piece focuses on the harmful beauty standards that women have to deal with. These standards are constantly changing, whether they focus on body shape, noses, lip size, facial structure, etc. This piece shows a skeleton (representing a female) sitting in a fitting room, trying to decide which body type (represented by skin suits) she wants to choose for herself, as if it's a clothing item.

The Emoji Mask - 2020

15" x 15"

Acrylic paint, colored pencil on illustration board

This piece shows how easily we can portray a certain emotion on social media when, in reality, we are feeling the complete opposite. The constant use of emojis to communicate and display our emotions can be an extremely misleading coverup. The emoji here is smiling and represents happiness, while the eyes are clearly showing pain, suffering and distress. I've always been a strong believer in the idea that you can see what anyone is truly feeling through the way their eyes look. Here, every aspect of the face shows happiness (the color yellow, the smile), besides the eyes.

Childhood's End - 2019

11" x 14"

Acrylic paint, colored pencil, charcoal on canvas board

This piece represents the oblivion of a child when it comes to the inevitable obstacles of life. The child is simply playing with his toy car, unknowingly guiding it towards a volcano, representing the struggles of the teenage years, adulthood, and so on. The volcanic explosion represents the likely to occur hardships of the child's future that he isn't yet aware of.

Voluntary Isolation - 2021

20" x 16"

Acrylic paint, colored pencils, collaging on canvas board

This piece emphasizes how people get addicted to social media and the internet, but do so by choice and in the comfort of their own home. Here you can see a figure being sucked into a screen, but they're sitting in a comfortable, relaxed position, showing that it's not forced. The figure is naked, showing that they are choosing to put themselves in a vulnerable position. The objects in the room, being a backpack, a pile of clothes, a crushed coke can, a mask and a keyboard, all prove that the figure is a stereotypical teenager. The coding on the walls have a couple of darker numbers, which are code for "this is not real" and "wake up". The room that they are sitting in is also in empty, dark space, representing how they are disconnected from the world around them.

I created this piece during quarantine of Covid.