Ordinary/
Extraordinary
Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
October 12th, 2023 -
January 12th, 2024
A Solo Exhibition
Each day, we are presented with countless opportunities to find extraordinary beauty in ordinary things. This exhibition captures my journey of putting this insight into practice over the course of a single year in the neighborhoods surrounding Dyckman Farmhouse.
Nature—especially flowers—form the heart of this exhibit. During a pivotal year when my family moved to Inwood, I began a daily routine of observing and recording the natural beauty in our local surroundings. Many of the pieces featured here were inspired by morning walks in Isham Park and Inwood Hill Park. I embraced the digital format as it allowed me to capture the immediacy of inspiration and the raw emotion that accompanied it. Digital work also helped me track and document my artistic journey by automatically recording the creative process. This record offered valuable insights into myself and my artistic evolution.
The art in this collection honors the lessons nature teaches about courage and resilience. A flower keeps growing and changing, regardless of what we prefer. I watch its journey from bud to full bloom and finally fading away. This evolution is fascinating and humbling, serving as a reminder of the profound beauty and transience of life itself.
VISUAL DIARY (Part 1)
This collection depicts instances of beauty I’ve encountered in the course of my daily life. These pieces frequently incorporate imperfect elements or inner dialogues that contrast with the surface beauty of the image. This contrast between the flawed and the beautiful highlights the way we carry our imperfections, doubts, and weaknesses with us in the world, even as we try to conceal them. By juxtaposing our inner and outer worlds, I embrace the multifaceted nature of being human and honor the vulnerability within us all.
VISUAL DIARY (Part 2)
VISUAL DIARY (Part 3)
CLOSER
In this collection, I embrace the value of “Closer.” These pieces invite a deeper exploration of the familiar by changing perspectives. Delving deeper shows that beauty exists in diverse forms, and emphasizes that imperfections and flaws do not need to be hidden. Small things—like a sprinkle of pollen on a petal—become visible when we look closer. And these “imperfections” highlight, rather than detract from, a flower’s essence. This work embraces and even celebrates the ways tiny imperfections and flaws contribute to the beauty of the whole.
NO, THANK YOU
These pieces of art draw inspiration from the heartfelt conversations I share with my children. Parenting has been an incredible source of both joy and challenge in my life. My children inspire me to experience deep emotions and also compel me to pause and savor life's simplest moments.
I aimed to create these artworks with simplicity and directness, avoiding overthinking, to capture what I observe. Additionally, I deliberately used my non-dominant hand while writing these passages as a constant reminder to embrace discomfort and find comfort within it.
