Trauma and strife are inevitable experiences. Through making, I have reconciled my own trauma of loss and grief, feelings I had never let show on the surface. I recognize I am not the only one that may be repressing these emotions and battling a challenging traversal through life. I am, in a way, trying to provide that same reprieve to the people I care about. Not only to create a deeper connection amongst friends, but as well provide a path forward toward growth. I don't buy the cliché that the portrait is an object that is able to tell us about someone's story or encompass truly who that person is. We are creatures that are too complex for it to be that simple. There are things some people will never know about you, whether that's things you have thought to yourself or things that have hurt you. A deeper challenge is present in all of us as we learn to navigate new things that present lessons that will change how we move forward and how we understand ourselves. As we learn those lessons, we become who we are now. But something that is broken is never the same when you put it back together again. As I sit and damage photographs, I am trying to understand more about what lies beneath someone's outer shell. The challenges they experience and the perseverance they strive toward. By putting the portraits back together, something begins to reach the surface that can tell us more about someone as well as how we carry with us the scars of our pasts.
