The Dark Between Stars
Ongoing thesis projects. Artist statement and images will be changing frequently.
My current work explores my self-reflection as I navigate the effects of being sexually assaulted in my past relationship and how that has affected my perspective on love, sex, and most prominently, myself.
These images explore hesitancy, yearning, the inability to see, and the power of touch through the visual language of high contrasting shadows and light. By juxtaposing the prickly fear of being touched with the brilliant potency of desire, I capture the complicated ways in which we share ourselves in relationships. I expose my nude form, exhibiting my journey to reveal what happened to my body years ago, and to confront it head-on. While photographs become proof of existence, I find myself searching for evidence from the past, finding it only exists in my memory. Image and text coincide to confront viewer’s initial assumptions, reconsider meanings, and reflect inwards.
As I photograph myself and my girlfriend, I consider how her love has helped me emerge from the darkness, rupturing my previously disorienting view of relationships. This project does not take place in the past, or the immediate present, it is rather the journey to trust, to love, to be in a healthy rela