I have found that over the last four years, art has become the means by which I pause and reflect, the means by which I pack away what I have experienced, what I have seen, and what I have felt. This independent study gave me the opportunity to pause and really think about how much I’ve grown over the last four years, to think about how I am constantly becoming, and constantly reflecting. I kept coming back to the theme of connection. Connection to the earth, to the spaces we inhabit, to the people who make the spaces, to the parts of ourselves that we keep quiet and don’t always show. I’ve always been drawn to the earth and especially to the landscape, and I find much comfort and inspiration in the idea that our spaces hold memories. I thought about duality and balance; how we can feel two things at once, how some parts of us are growing and still others are trying to keep us grounded. This is something vulnerable, but also freeing. Some of these pieces reflect a more raw or childlike energy, which for me was a way of connecting to instinct and intuition. Some are more steeped in feeling or memory. This work is personal. It’s about figuring out how to hold space for change, how to accept the messier parts of ourselves, and how to keep moving forward with more openness and mindfulness. Together, I hope they tell a quiet story about transition, reflection, and becoming.