Welcome Home
Growing up in a small town in North Carolina, I experienced the chaos of a broken home. The constant changes—moving more times than I can count, my father’s deployments, and witnessing the adults around me struggle with addiction, left me seeking solace in the details of my surroundings.
“Welcome Home” is a documentation through the perspective of the childhood version of myself. When creating this body of work, I-Spy books were in the forefront of my mind. Within these books worlds are created. Imagination takes flight, and different scenarios and possibilities are created. The more you look inside, the more things that can unlock within your mind. Each hidden element within my work is tied to the good and bad memories that I experienced as a child.
I have created a home environment that reflects where each of my prints took place. At first glance, the environment seems like a home that you would want to enter but once you look and actually see what is inside, you soon realize that there is a darker side to this so-called happy home.
Using printmaking as my medium I am able to focus on those details during every phase of a print. I’m using an etching technique called the Yuji method, which allows me to print a single etched copper plate repeatedly to have more control over different color placements and value ranges.
My lithographs are created using a similar layered color approach using over saturated colors and objects that have a nostalgic quality for me to create an impression of childhood innocence. While doing these methods I am able to see my stories come alive onto the paper. Making the printing process even more important to my personal journey with my artwork.
While working on this series I have been able to work through the trauma and leave it within the piece. I understand that what happened to me wasn’t okay, but I am fine now and wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for those hardships. I want my work to not only be a voice for children but also let people with similar experiences know that it will be okay, and you are more than the trauma.
Welcome home, step inside to the inter-workings of my mind