"See Me" is a series of multi-media self-portraits that combine oil paint, incisions into the canvas, and embroidered elements. Producing this work was an intimate, emotional journey of reflection and self-discovery that was ultimately cathartic. To me, the process was as significant as the product. These works represent a part of me, laid bare for you to see.

In creating "See Me," I was influenced by the 20th century, expressionist painter, Francis Bacon. Gesturally composed, Bacon’s paintings convey unsettling and raw feelings. I incorporated expressionism into my works by using broad, gestural brushstrokes that render the human form with an economy of detail. In my works, I convey similar dark themes, but through the use of unique techniques such as cutting and sewing. To begin, I primed each of my canvases with black gesso. Then, I painted the nude, female, human form. Throughout this collection, I incorporated the color red using embroidery. Bacon’s effective use of graphic and disturbing imagery against black background influenced the foundations of my self-portraits, but my works were further adapted beyond the use of paint and canvas.

My multi-media technique starts with oil-painted canvases, which I adapt. Using elements fusing surrealism and expressionism, I painted, cut, and sewed my emotions. In this process, I first painted gestural self-portraits, on black gesso backgrounds, featuring particular body parts such as the heart, the eye, and the hand. Once satisfied with each portrait, I cut into my precious work, removing sections of it, tearing pieces apart. Cutting into a painting and canvas was difficult, both figuratively because I was wounding my self-portrait, and literally because I felt as though I was cutting through flesh. Slicing into canvas felt like opening myself up and becoming vulnerable, which is how I want the viewer to "See Me." After cutting into my canvas, I sewed parts back together using blood red embroidery thread, my pop of color. The red thread and cutout canvas are focal, and signature, parts of each work. The featured sewing demonstrates a healing process. My emotional catharsis comes from painting, cutting, and sewing back together my self-portraits.

Originally, my project began as digital art. The first piece was a digital portrait featuring my eye, done in a photorealistic style. I tried to paint onto the printed paper, to add three-dimensional elements to a digital printout. Evolving this idea, I eliminated the digital painting process altogether. Instead, I transitioned to oil paint on canvas, something I had been exploring for recreation. I built each frame and stretched each canvas. Given the new medium, I felt better equipped to demonstrate the darkness in emotions and being. Once my first self-portrait was finished, to me it felt incomplete and two dimensional. So I cut into it. Using the cuts, I framed and emphasized certain parts of the body and the painting. But the self-portrait still felt incomplete. So I got blood red thread and began to sew.

The works represent my various emotional states, recently experienced. I do not fully understand my emotions. Therefore, I do not expect the viewer to, either. Still, I welcome you to "See Me."