I’ve been making art since as long as I can remember. My art has always been focused on my personal interests & memories. I’ve always been fascinated with the feeling of nostalgia. I’ve tried to capture my most important moments in paint or charcoal as a way to make them last longer and to honor them for how they shaped my life.

I was born with a large facial birthmark called a Port Wine Stain. It is essentially a collection of excess blood vessels & capillaries close to the surface of my skin that affects my lip, jaw and neck. I’ve had countless surgeries to lighten it, but there is no cure. I’ve struggled with feeling the pressure of trying to “look normal” and trying to cover it every time I go into public. In recent years, I’ve come to realize that I’ve been putting this pressure on myself. I don’t have to cover up, and yet I feel like I do.

I’ve created this piece to emphasize the presence of my birthmark. This type of birthmark is so common; 3 in 1,000 babies are born with a PWS. My birthmark is just one way in which I am unique. I believe we should be able to live in a world where “differences” are celebrated, not hidden. Where we worship diversity, not attack it.

I used red thread to replicate the pattern of blood vessels in my skin and I sewed into cling wrap because when I was little, I had to use numbing cream before having laser treatment. To keep the numbing cream from wiping off, it was covered in cling wrap. I added a print of the Caduceus, the medical symbol, with spots on it because after laser treatment, my face is bruised with little spots & is similarly shaped like a cross. The hand position has been used in religious art for thousands of years and this specific position means “the beginning of speech” and “blessings”. I think this is fitting because I am trying to say something meaningful about acceptance & existence. The way we are made is unique and there is absolutely nothing wrong with being different.