Sarah Y.

Artist's statement

Childhood experiences carry into adulthood. It shapes beliefs, personalities, relationships, and positions in the world. With favoritism shown by my grandmother towards my younger brother and feudal Asian values/expectations for marriage, females, and achievements, I discovered that everyone has something imperfect in their growth. I explored the imperfection aspects of childhood/past and the effect it has on someone for growth in my journey to self-awareness. Ultimately, the intention is to deliver a message to encourage viewers to pay more attention to themselves and think critically about their surroundings.

The first painting, Imperfect Childhood, delves into the theme of an imperfect upbringing, represented by an incomplete puzzle of early memories. The new piece cannot cover the old space, symbolizing the futile act of perfecting any experience. The use of primary colors supports the idea of originality.

The second painting, Imperfect Past, explores the inseparable connections between people and their pasts. It is represented by a game of Cat’s Cradle, with strings tying the girl and the picture frames which symbolize the past together. The background, filled with clocks, depicts this long-standing relationship.

The third painting, Imperfect ______, conveys the message that while people grow, forget, and adapt, imperfection and negative experiences remain. We should always face it, listen to ourselves, and think critically about our environment. This is represented by the degenerated mouth and voice, the enlarging effect of the subject matter, a black solid area in the skeleton, and an earbud directed to the heart.

In summary, the three paintings each represent a stage toward self-awareness from realizing the imperfection of our childhood, past, and world. The use of style, technique, and color is contextualized as a reflection of growth. This approach with the three pieces may or may not connect and bring people together because many have been influenced by certain values throughout their lives, but who gets to decide what is right and wrong?