Belonging is a core emotional need; unknowingly it delicately changes who we are. Subtly shifting us from, who we want to be, to who we think we have to be, hiding who we really are.

We do this to be accepted and also to protect ourselves. Not wanting to be excluded, we repress who we want to be. Being vulnerable opens us up to be rejected as we show our differences, our uniqueness. Which propels us into a disagreement with ourselves. A contradiction that allows our emotions not only to persist, but to amplify until they become the loudest thing we emote, but cannot hear. It isolates us from our core and quiets our spirit. This deafening causes others to speak softly – so softly that we no longer belong.

This series shows the disagreements between our emotions, and the paradox as it appropriates the figure.