Minor Imperfections

My photographic series, Minor Imperfections, reveals the hidden experience of insidious cycles of my mental illness. I began this project in 2012, working intermittently, until I suffered a major depressive episode in 2020 that renewed my compulsion to create this imagery. To illustrate my struggle, I utilize collage to craft disjointed images of my face that evoke the trials of anxiety and depression. The face is our primary physical identifier, often considered the most reflective of our internal selves. When I rupture my face into multiple pieces and collage it back together, it signifies my attempt to reassemble my identity after a psychological breakdown. I strive for perfection, yet, after this reconstructive surgery, the parts fail to reunify. The resulting images leave fractured seams that illuminate my fragmented relationship with myself. This artwork indicates one of the primary symptoms of my mental illness— body dysmorphia, the obsession with perceived physical flaws. This distorted relationship with my appearance extends to a painfully disrupted relationship with the world around me. In both my artwork and psyche, I scrutinize my body and mind. I continuously break, then gather and reassemble pieces of myself. My search for wholeness is an ongoing component of my creative practice. I invite the viewer into my predicament to cultivate connection, empathy, and collective healing.