Graduate Student, Lamar Dodd School of Art My art research details my journey of parenthood and my identity of how I fit into the world. I focus on the struggle I have found in identifying myself apart from my role as a mother. I am using the camera as a way to navigate my experience being a plus size woman. Motherhood gives you strength and a purpose but it can be overwhelming, emotional, and exhausting. Through both performance and observation, I use the camera as a way to sort through my feelings and anxieties. I dive into the complex mother daughter relationship but also how I feel about my own identity and how I view my body. Photographing my interactions with the landscapes that we live in aids in my self discovery. Putting myself in front of the camera allows me to confront the negative emotions I have surrounding my body image. It is in many ways uncomfortable for me and the viewer but what the vulnerability does is open the conversation that bodies like mine are worthy of acceptance. My photographs demonstrate a level of strength I wish to share with my audience. My photographs push past the restraints of conforming to society, and expand the notion of what a family can look like. Through my research I am speaking of ending an era where society has looked down upon women especially those who are outside of the traditional beauty standards.
