What I want to get across to my audience in this project is the message of fearless self-projection and acceptance. My youth was consumed by defining myself on how other’s perceived me. Coming from a conservative, backwoods town, I came from a hippie, liberal family. I realized everything I did was to prove to others that I wasn’t white trash. Exploring more of the world, I quickly realized there is nothing wrong with that. On my journey to college, I found the weird freedom of being a stranger to everyone around me. It was soon after that I realized I had been a stranger in my own skin.

At 18 years old, I found myself having an identity crisis not realizing what parts of myself were authentic. What parts of myself were real? And what parts of myself have I adapted from other’s interests? It was a label that was put onto people who lived outside the majority’s preferred style of living. I still struggle with the time that I lost not expressing my individuality and the self-growth I could have experienced as a younger woman. I hope my work frees someone else of that same struggle.