The Beginnings

Before expression, there was precision.

These works mark the start of my advanced training, from 10th to 12th grade, when art was but a refuge and mastering it my main obsession. As a child, my talent grew out of a need to escape reality. Art was the one thing I could call my own and the one part of my life I could control, but above all, it was the surest way to get the validation I craved. Subconsciously, its quality became how I measured my worth.

Art classes had always bored me, until I met Annie Fernández, the mother of my high school crush and, far more importantly, the best art teacher I’ve ever had. She saw the potential I longed for someone to notice and gave me the assignments I had always wanted; I called them ultra hard mode. Her faith in my abilities gave me the courage to aim higher with every piece, and that was when my obsession with excelling came easily. I was ready to be thrown to the wolves with my polished double-edged dagger.