I’m turning 40 next month, and that seems like a milestone to reflect on what I have done with my life and what I want to do in the future. I was really fortunate to have parents who supported my interest in art from a young age. I started taking piano at 5, dance and drama at 7 (I was Piglet in Winnie the Pooh at the Charlotte Children’s Theater) I focussed less on these when I became a preteen because I became obsessed with visual art. I know I am very privileged to have so much art exposure from such a young age, and it really informed the artist I am today as I work in so many different mediums.

Art has been a thread that has carried through every part of my life. It is how I process my feelings, connect with people and express myself. I made this collection of 40 different art projects (in mostly chronological order) to revisit some of the things I have made over the years. It is a little hard to look at my older work, especially when it is not as polished as what I could make today. I am learning to accept it all as part of growth and as a way to observe certain themes that pop up over and over again over the course of 20 years of making art. 

I have doubted myself a lot, and when imposter syndrome creeps in, I sometimes wonder if I am a “real” artist. I’ve made a lot of art because I have a tiny chip on my shoulder: always feeling I have to prove myself as real, or good enough. This exercise of revisiting and sorting some of my work has been  really encouraging and fun to think about past projects, collaborators and friends who supported me! I highly encourage anyone who has done one thing for an extended amount of time to try this. It is a real confidence boost!