Statement
What Do? Unrealistic expectations have been plaguing my current generation and myself, which to me is just comically funny and depressing at the same time. There has been this consensus that everyone should graduate from college, which should automatically get a high-paying job, in turn, that will be able to afford to get married and have kids, buy a home, etc. All of these American ideals and the so-called American Dream are currently dead. It’s bleak, and at the same time, it’s basically a train wreck so horrifying, yet you can’t look away because of the spectacle of it. When I make art, I think about how comedic and unsettling aspects of expectations in America tend to be and how it has affected me and my peers. I’m constantly paranoid about the judgment of others, the future seems so inconsistent to me, it makes me feel like everyone and everything is waiting for me to make mistakes. Paranoid that my choices and my beliefs conflict with the majority and, as a result, will get in the way of the prosperous American lifestyle I have been promised while growing up. There are so many overwhelming aspects of life, sometimes coming at me all at once. Everything to me is a joke, so I try hiding my depression and anxiety with bright colors and almost cartoonish imagery. When COVID hit, I noticed a massive hit to the collective creativity and passion everywhere. Before, I saw this decline, but it accelerated after COVID. Businesses/companies, TV and Movies, comedy, and in some art communities have been slowly washing away aspects that brought them to life. Slowly sanitizing everything to make it basically and making every aspect of our society easily digestible to anyone. I chose to rebel and put passion back into the world. I am still plagued by these questions that overwhelm and confuse me: what must I do to make it in this strange and cruel world? What do you want from me to be wanted and needed? What can we do to make a better future where most people can be happy? What does it mean to be an artist in today's world? What do you do? What do?What do indeed?
