This is a portrait of my sister, Carly. She travelled the world as an international model, walking runways for many top designers. Immersed in a no sleep, social elitist life where perfectionism is not only existent, but expected. A world that thrives on breaking you. To come out the other side is a feat that only the endured self can comprehend. This rings true for all of us living our own individual experiences and the weight that has on forming our thoughts and behaviours.

This painting depicts a state of emotional exhaustion. The social battery has expired before the party has ended. The amount of energy required to wind her up, allotted for a very small window to maintain the façade of enjoyment.

The negative space in this composition is just as significant as the subject herself and a projection of my own struggles with dissociation. Paralyzed in thought and disconnected from your surroundings. The subject is captured in an anxious state, isolated and disconnected from everything but a little party animal. A piece of the imagination that’s brought forth a friend to share the silence with, where they play statue together in a world of their own.