“Everyone's Asleep"
As a recent college graduate, I feel pressure to make major life decisions without fully knowing what I want longterm, and to navigate a quickly changing political landscape that is out of my control. My series “Everyone’s Asleep” focuses on my journey moving forward through life, while accepting that there are parts that will always remain unknown, feeling incomplete, and uncontrollable.
This series is in conversation with Trompe-l’Oeil’s painting “Still Life with a Flower Garland and a Curtain.” Trompe-l’Oeil paints a realistic curtain that gives the illusion of being pulled back to reveal a painted still life behind it. The blue tarp throughout my series mimics Trompe-l’Oeil’s curtain. I use the tarp to depict a piece being hidden from me. The flowers in both my series and Trompe-l’Oeil’s painting show the beauty, fragility, and quickness of life.
The difference in seasons and time throughout the images allows my series to be detached from any specific timeline, creating a feeling of displacement. The title, “Everyone’s Asleep,” illustrates a world where I am the only character, away from any outside influences and free to make my own discoveries at my own pace, but also struggling with the isolation of young adulthood.
