Featuring work from Elle, Bon Appétit and Vogue. IDENTITY is the seventh installment of the series exploring perception of self. Images of a Latinx fashion spread is layered between images of a beige stairwell, blue mountainous skies, and colorful jewels. Fragmented and applied, then ripped.

This piece was particularly frustrating to look at as it was messy, seemingly incomplete, ripped, exposed. During the creation of this piece, I was frustrated with myself as an artist and the outcome of my art for projects that excited me, with potential to help me grow. I completed this piece in April 2022 and revisited it in September 2022 upon realization that my disinterest in sharing this piece was fueled by the very feelings I put into: frustration with my identity as an artist as it relates to what I can produce.

Looking deeper, I considered frustration towards my identity overall. My fatness, diasporic latinidad, complexion, the way I dress, spoke and how it all is perceived by others; the disconnect between who I think I am and who others know me to be versus who I actually am. Feelings that have since evolved to a healthier, more reasonable space where I can now look at this piece and see it for what it is.

Paper hand-cut using an X-Acto knife and assembled on paper using glue.