False Hope
This series is about the only person I’ve ever loved, who has greatly impacted my life recently. It is the duality of holding onto hope even throughout constant disappointment, and not knowing if that’s brave or naive. These paintings are meant to visualize my perpetual struggle of not knowing how things will turn out, and what decision I should make, all relative to this relationship. The two sides of how I feel, one being self protective and one being hopeful, overwhelm and confuse me. I got the idea for the first painting when I did a mental exercise where you imagine people you know as inanimate objects. I immediately imagined this person as a Chinese finger trap right in front of my face with flames behind it. I sketched out that concept but it didn’t feel complete to me, and after a few days of letting the idea sit, I thought to make a companion piece for it that showed another side of how I imagine him. The second painting reflects the hope I hang onto, endlessly waiting for this person to let go and come down into the water. I wait everyday because I love the person, but also wait out of fear that if I had just waited one day longer they would finally jump in.
