This collection evolved through tying together self portraiture with floating thoughts on the tale of Echo and Narcissus from Ovid's Metamorphosis. I use self portraiture to explore and reclaim my identity from a world that- as a queer, mad, ill, WOC- fights for my erasure. 

​

Echo is portrayed as a compliant, lovesick nymph who loses her voice (and her life) while pining after the proud and self-righteous Narcissus. While Narcissus lives on as the jonquil flower, eternally dipping toward the mirrored surface of the water, Echo becomes a detached voice void of agency and power. Unable to vocalize or advocate for herself, she is doomed to repeat the words she hears from others.

​

This series explores the conflicting ideologies of the Madonna-whore dichotomy: the purity of the meek and submissive versus the obstinance of the self-acceptant/self-appreciative woman. Drawing from a Catholic upbringing, I created these works to subvert the idea of vanity as a sin, and instead, make space for conversations about female-empowerment within a culture that both idolizes and demonizes femininity and the female body.