Existence
Mixed Media (charcoal, watercolor, acrylic, twine)
15” x 22”
This mixed media piece explores the tension between identity and documentation—how one’s worth, and even their existence, is often only validated through material records. From birth certificates to diplomas to death certificates, society assigns value through proof. Without these artifacts, a person’s presence risks erasure. A winding twine serves as an umbilical cord, symbolizing the journey from life’s beginning to its bureaucratic end. Charcoal clouds engulf a child emerging from institutional structures, reflecting how identity is reduced to numbers—until death, when even absence must be archived. Existence questions whether we are truly seen if we leave nothing behind that can be measured.
15” x 22”
This mixed media piece explores the tension between identity and documentation—how one’s worth, and even their existence, is often only validated through material records. From birth certificates to diplomas to death certificates, society assigns value through proof. Without these artifacts, a person’s presence risks erasure. A winding twine serves as an umbilical cord, symbolizing the journey from life’s beginning to its bureaucratic end. Charcoal clouds engulf a child emerging from institutional structures, reflecting how identity is reduced to numbers—until death, when even absence must be archived. Existence questions whether we are truly seen if we leave nothing behind that can be measured.