This series starts as a remembrance of body shame while on my high school drill team. I explore the ritualistic nature of small town southern culture, the rigidity of the drill team and the lack of flexibility found within that structure.

Lacking the tools at that time to express my fear, rage, and sadness, I felt a pressure to conform.

The pom poms in my artwork begin as symbols of oppression, and as the series progresses they change and morph into symbols of identity, celebration and liberation. The act of power in claiming symbols that were once oppressive and transforming them into something magical is in the vein of the ‘witch’.  First I am a witch of the dark, cast out of society due to fear of my body, and fear of my difference. Slowly I find my power as a witch of my own making- with the divination to transform. I have conjured magic where there was once pain and darkness.

There is an alchemy to identity, it is the culmination of the things we hold, the things we carry, and the things we create. Layering through collage work, my video work, and my silk installation I use layering throughout the series to contextualize the many facets of influence- memory, society, and our own imprint that create a broad stroke of self. These are the ingredients needed to conjure and manifest magic. The pom poms are now my familiars: colorful,  living, breathing creatures full of texture and depth.