Talk To Me

120 x 100 cm

Acrylics on canvas

I would like to think that no one has truly looked at their face until the first time they try to draw it. Yes, you see your eyes every day, your lips, your cheeks, and foreheads, and you think you know your face, you know how big your eyes are and how much space there is between your nose and lips, but it is when you paint yourself that you truly see yourself. Every time I paint a self-portrait, I am getting deeper and deeper into discovering who I am as a person. I discover more about the face the world sees. It is the first layer of my identity. In this self-portrait, I reveal my conversations with myself and the viewer. I am free. I refuse to hold myself back and succumb to expectations and suggestions of who I am and who I should be. My work expresses the joy of discovering what is hidden inside me.
And I am the only one who can do that for me. Nobody else can discover what is behind that first layer; only I can peel it off and, layer by layer, discover my truest self. And I do that through art. I capture moments like the one I painted, where I am my most vulnerable, wildest, and freed self. Through my use of colors, I say things that I could not say through words. When I paint, I communicate with myself. And I want that for others too. Through my art, I strive to inspire people to get to know themselves. I want them to look at my painting and contemplate their own self, their fears, inspirations, and dreams. I want them to see themselves even if they are looking at my face.