Comfort Zone

This series, Comfort Zone, examines intimacy, distance and nurture within my well-rehearsed role as a parentified child. My place in the family as the eldest of five pushed me out of my childhood too fast and left me with the weight of an adult role, often taking away the play and freedom I saw in my siblings. I longed to receive the comfort and care I gave out, yet for the majority of my early years I acted like I didn't need much. These images were made each summer over the course of a decade while on family vacations that were planned and executed by my parents. I am transported backwards into my childhood while sitting as a passenger in the back of a rental minivan, living in the womb-like place of enmeshment that my Christian family offers for a week every year. This work is an act of self nurture that lets me engage with my family in a new way while revealing lingering dynamics from our past. Could I cross the boundaries that feel set in stone and finally enter into a real friendship with my siblings? How can I break free from my responsible self and embrace my inner child?