This piece is about the nature of preconceived notions and how one might get fixated on the idea of something, rather than letting it be what it is. I vividly remember as a child despising the taste of any watermelon-flavored candy. I realize that I could not let go of the distinct feeling of being let down and that I was being fed some sugar pill. I couldn’t accept the fact that the candy was merely inspired by the idea of watermelon and is not the real thing. I had to separate the idea of what real watermelons taste like from the taste in my mouth. A silly story, about candy of all things, but I think this sort of thing happens a lot in life and often in other more harmful ways.

Mixed media piece composed of acrylic, gouache, vine charcoal, glass beads, and putty on stretched canvas. A square piece with many layers of texture, removed, added, like patchwork.