Art in Progress

"The Bean" - Chicago, IL (2016) "The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale."            The summer before I started college, I went on a trip to Chicago, IL with my best friend, Phoebe. Why would we go to Chicago? To see our role model, Kelly Nicole Long, finally graduate as a "Master of Fine Arts." At the age of 32, Kelly received her certificate from SAIC. She was my high school art teacher and always believed in me even when I didn't (she still does!). She has played a very significant role in my life and was the one that pushed me to pursue my own degree in fine art.            One of the most important things you have to see when you go to Chicago is The Bean. For starters: it's very easy to underestimate the actual size of this oddity. As Phoebe and I stood beneath it, we took in just how big it actually was. When you look directly up,  the entire dome is an optical illusion. The reflection that is seen in the ph

    Stage 1: Clear Mindedness Stage 2: The Beginning Stage 3: Disillusionment          Touch, for me, has made a very big impact in my life. There has never been a defined line between pain and pleasure due to my past. When you feel as though you deserve the pain being inflicted upon you, it's likely that something isn't right. I've had to rediscover myself through the definition of touch because there are specific things that differentiate between "good" and "bad." As time has passed, I've learned what it means to be in pain, as well as being relieved of it.      When I was in the darkest part of my life, pain was something I felt I deserved. I had been forced into thinking that everything was my fault. I thought that he was demonstrating how much he cared whenever he put his hands on me. I didn't see it as a bad thing at the time -- just normal. Touch, at this time, was sharp; violent and difficult for me to wrap my head arou