Reclining nude

Medium

String

Dimensions

120"H × 36"W

Year

2022

This ten-foot self-portrait explores the emotional weight of existing within a body that carries memory, grief, resilience, and transformation. Rendered through stitched thread, paint, and absence, the work captures moments of physical and emotional vulnerability that are often hidden from public view. By enlarging the figure beyond life-size, I transform an intimate experience into a monumental presence, asking viewers to slow down and engage with the complexities of being human. The composition is divided into two interconnected forms of self. In the upper panel, the body folds inward, creating a posture that suggests protection, exhaustion, contemplation, or surrender. In the lower panel, the figure stretches across the length of the canvas, suspended between rest and collapse. Together, these forms become a conversation between emotional states rather than a singular portrait. They reflect the shifting nature of identity and the ways we inhabit ourselves differently as we move through periods of change, loss, healing, and self-discovery. Thread serves as both medium and metaphor throughout my practice. Each strand represents connection, memory, and endurance. The stitched lines define the body while simultaneously revealing its fragility. The thread behaves like veins, scars, lifelines, and emotional pathways, mapping experiences that cannot always be seen. Through the repetitive act of sewing, I transform a traditionally domestic material into a language capable of expressing vulnerability, resilience, and the invisible forces that shape us. Large areas of white space remain intentionally unresolved. These passages of absence are as important as the stitched forms themselves. They speak to the parts of our lives that cannot be fully articulated, the memories that fade, the emotions that remain unnamed, and the spaces left behind by personal transformation. Rather than presenting a complete image, the work invites viewers to participate in its construction, filling the gaps with their own experiences and interpretations. Though rooted in my own image, this self-portrait is ultimately less about likeness than about endurance—the quiet, ongoing act of learning how to live within a body that remembers.