"YOUTH" Artist Statement

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Highlighted green panels are in collaboration with UCSC Trading Post and Liminal Spaces:

Instagram for orgs: @ucsctradingpost and @liminal_space_collective

C1 & C2: Wendy Francess @wendy.artz - @wendyspresso// A2: @taytayroyanart// D1, F1, & F2: Alice in Genderbend - Kris Berardi// G2: Main Liminal Spaces Room - Liminal Space Collective at Circles Church - Eye Mural - @augiewk// D2: Liminal Space Collective at Circles Church

Highlighted blue panels are in collaboration with Pink Rabbit Band and Julian Kenji: O1 & O2

Instagram: @pinkrabbitsc @juliankenjiduh

I am constantly told to “Enjoy my youth,” as if these 6 years of my life are the only years I’m allowed to be happy, and that youth is ever fleeting and gone once you reach a certain age. And as I mature, I realize how wrong they are. Perception of age lies in the eyes of the beholder, so what really is “youth”? I believe the true form of youth is a feeling rather than solely a process of life. “Youth” is more of a philosophical word to me, which also encompasses being a teenager and immaturity.

As an ode to my last year being a teen I would like to document my time, my friends, and my family here at UCSC as well as my hometown. I photographed mostly candid moments of people I often surround myself with during moments I associated with youthfulness. Youth to me has been a wonderful exciting moment of my life, but also a time of great confusion and frustration with the world and myself. In “YOUTH” I aim to highlight positive vivid moments, but this is not to say this is everyone's experience. I included a variety of ages in my quilt and animals as well, although the majority of my photographs are of my friends, that I see most often. 

“YOUTH” is my first photography project where I started exploring other types of mediums and alternative printing, rather than just using photo paper. The reason this project is sewn together as a quilt is because historically they are used to tell stories and events of people of that time. This project is a story of my youth, and a slice of what it means to be a college student in Santa Cruz. This project is entirely hand sewn, it was quite the tedious process, but I felt the only respectful way of stitching together a quilt was by hand. By doing this I am quite literally sewing together memories and engraving them into my own history. Historically quilts also are passed down as family heirlooms and I intend to do the same with this piece. 

Thank you to my parents Diana and Adam, my professor's Karolina Karlic who encourages and supports my endeavors, and Kathleen Perry who inspired me to make a quilt/fabric piece in the first place, my roommates Alissa and Sophia, and all my wonderful friends that modeled in this piece and helped with the process.

A few photos from “YOUTH” are in collaboration with Liminal Spaces, UCSC Trading Post and Pink Rabbit. Please see the diagram above for specific images and related art competition.