The title of my favorite peice of my work is "Overgrown". It's a simple enough concept, visually: it's in my usual cartoon-inspired style. It's a bust portrait of a girl, given anonymity by her hair, overgrown with vines. They wrap around her -- they choke, bruises, and constrict her. The original version of this peice was conceived in 2018, however that is not the version that I am the most proud of. The version of the peice made in 2018 was made at the beginning of my freshman year of highschool. This was a time where I was feeling such tremendous pressure to achieve academic success because of my perceived failings in middleschool. Highschool was a chance to restart, to grow, but I felt like I was already overgrown with the mishaps and bad habits of previous years. I used this peice as an outlet to help myself work through how trapped and surrounded by the stress I felt all of the time. I continue to face this struggle in recent years, having graduated highschool in 2022, it was time for me to start all over again in college. The desire for academic achievement even in a time when my life felt more unstable than ever. Just before college, my mother (who is active duty military) move to Arizona with 6 of my 9 siblings. I was mostly alone, needing to pay bills for the first time in my life, and still feeling the need to push myself academically in order to keep my financial aid. However much adversity I faced, however, I have now successfully made it through my first year of college. But with the success came a flood of new doubts that I could pull it off a second time. I felt just like I had in my freshman year of highschool -- doubtful, constricted, and overgrown. Redrawing "Overgrown" as an adult was incredibly cathartic. Not only did it serve, once again, as an outlet for all of those same feelings; the visible improvement in my work showed me how far I'd come and made me incredibly proud of my progress. "Overgrown", despite its grim appearance, is a very uplifting peice for me. The peice gives me the power to grab my shears and get to work pruning the vines that constrict me. It inspires me to love myself through all of the obstacles ahead of me.

I am certainly not the first in my family with a love of the arts. My mother writes poetry and my father sent me drawings from bootcamp in all of his letters. My father is the one who sparked my interest and eventual passion for art, drawing in particular. I have a very fond memory of my dad teaching me how to draw a horse as a child and asking if I wanted a Pegasus or a unicorn. Obviously, I thought the horse needed both wings and a horn, but my dad explained to me that alicorns are a huge air traffic hazard and we compromised on wings and a rainbow mane. My dad pulled a lot of weight in my early developmental years, he is my oldest art teacher and my biggest fan. However, outside of my father, I have not had had much opportunity to gain much formal training in my drawing skills (I only every took 3 art classes before college). I instead opted to pursue my other love: music. After transferring schools in the middle of the fifth grade, I was unable to join my new school's band program, so in sixth grade, I decided to join the school's choir program instead. I was in my school's choir from then until my senior year and had the same teacher for all 6 years. While the performing arts are not quite the same as visual arts, in my school's choir and theatre programs, I found a home. Surrounded by friends and ever supportive peers, I thrived in the arts. Choir gave me a refuge and an outlet on my worst days, and laughter and joy on my best. Through these programs I gained a lot of confidence in myself that I don't beleive I would have found elsewhere. However, as an upperclassmen, I gained more space in my schedule for the type of art classes I'd always wanted to participate in. I took my school's Fundemental Drawing and ceramics classes and began to gain technical skills that my father and myself were unable to provide me with alone. I was given the opportunity to hone my skills and create art that I am still proud of today. Since I've started college, I can say the same of the handful of art-related classes I've been able to take thus far: I'm already gaining more confidence in my technical skills. With the continued support of my professors and peers, I genuinly hope to make an impact on the world with my art.