I have always been a sentimental person; every significant change that has come and gone throughout my life has had an equally significant impact on my emotional state. I cling to each moment and keep every souvenir, afraid to ever forget a person, feeling, experience, or chapter in my life. The silent act of girlhood transforming into adulthood inevitably comes with feelings of nostalgia, fear, and hope. Like many others, I look forward to uncertainties of the future. With the unknown and persistent future brings excitement and an abundance of possibilities, but also anxiety, fear, and pressure. In this exhibition, I use representational self-portraits inspired by an abundance of growing pains to engage with the viewer and encourage a critical analysis of aging and transitioning.

 

The Only Friend I Need is a visual display that embodies my experiences as a girl transitioning into a woman in the modern era.