Identity, I get to choose

As I dive into my art practice and the art world, I am confronted with questions about my outward appearing identity and what practices I associate with that define those identities. These pieces serve as a self reflection to those questions along with symbols that have resonated with me significantly throughout my life. I am now exploring the meanings to those symbols and family stories by researching their cultural significance while strengthening ties to living relatives. Up until recently I had not correlated these symbols and stories with personal ancestral importance and am now considering their relevance to me as a person who is far removed and disassociated from my own cultural heritage. These symbols are an exploration of mark-making that express my identity and connection to myself as a human and my connection to my family, both dynamic and imperfect. The unfinished or under-painted look is deliberate to express my identity as in progress, personifying my identity as an ever developing experience. These pieces represent a place of affectionate introspection, to explore others perceptions of “who I am”, and my experience of navigating life as a multi-racial female with a severed connection from my ancestral roots and family stories.

-Morgan DeVillier