Teenage Years

This collection brings together artwork I created during, or that reflects, my teenage years, a time when I was still learning how to make art and, in many ways, learning how to become myself.

I grew up under strict, oppressive rules with very little autonomy. There were many things I was not allowed to decide for myself, and very little room to explore who I was outside of the expectations placed on me. Art became one of the places where I could experiment, question, and begin to discover my own voice.

Some of these paintings are simply about learning how to paint. Others are about learning about myself. And some carry the energy of rebellion, the desire to break free from rules and expectations that felt suffocating.

These works are not technically where I am as an artist today. There are mistakes, awkward choices, and plenty of evidence that I was still figuring out what I was doing. But that is exactly why I believe they belong here.

We all have to start somewhere. Finding ourselves is a process, and so is learning any creative practice. The mistakes are not separate from that process. They are part of it.

Looking back at these paintings now, I can see more than what I didn't know yet. I can see a young person experimenting with freedom, identity, creativity, and self-expression. Before I knew exactly who I was, I was already beginning to paint my way toward finding out.

This collection is a reminder that becoming an artist, and becoming yourself, don't happen all at once. Sometimes you have to make the imperfect thing first before you can discover what you were trying to say.