My favorite piece of art I have ever created is this print titled "Haunting". It is an 18x24" hand-carved linoleum print with watercolor. It comes from the final project of my Drawing class for my Associate degree and ended up being the true beginning of my healing journey solely from how they were received by my peers and professors. For the project, I took on the challenge of confronting the ways that my trauma has changed me as a person, and creating works that communicated those emotions and feelings. This piece came from a deeply personal place, reflecting on one of the most difficult things I've ever had to deal with. "Haunting" depicts a night scene, where the shadow of a woman is seen in front of the facade of an apartment building, hands up to the wall. One window out of the entire building glows red— specifically, the one lined up between the figure’s legs. The silhouette is taken from a picture of my own body, which I then superimposed on top of an image of a building to loosely recreate the scene I saw in my mind. From there, I carved lines in opposite directions to differentiate the windows from the brick walls and used a stippling technique inside the figure to achieve the transparent effect of a shadow. This piece addresses my experience being a survivor of childhood sexual assault. The apartment building with windows at various light levels represents all the people in the world that are completely oblivious to your experience, while the red represents the one person that knows you in a way that you did not consent to. The color red is used as a visual motif, signifying the feeling of being “marked,” or “other” compared to the people around you, who may not understand the effects that sexual trauma in childhood can have on your personal development, including both mental and sexual health and well being. This piece was a struggle to create because of the emotions involved but conveys a message that I never dared to identify with until now. It makes me incredibly proud to have such a conceptually realized piece, especially with this being the first time I have ever used my personal adverse childhood experiences as inspiration for my art. Through this piece, I have finally found the strength to face my fears head-on, and it has pushed me to translate them into art that can touch people’s lives. I hope to continue in this exploration of the self and coming up with universal ways to represent the emotional impact of my traumatic experiences. Trauma may isolate us, but art can bridge that gap and form a connection with others again. This piece has proven to me that I can create a world where my pain is seen, understood, and even accepted— as a catalyst of creativity.