The word autolatry means “self worship” and is mainly used in a derogatory sense, calling someone self-centered. However, especially over quarantine, I’ve learned how vital self-love is. They say at the loss of one sense, the others are heightened. I believe that in isolation, something similar happens because when all else around you isn’t there anymore, your sense of self is heightened. Personally, it forced me to learn to be the best version of myself, not for anyone else, but for myself. 

Each of my acrylic-painted fish is vastly different, but that’s the beauty in them all. If one tried to be like the others, it wouldn’t be as captivating.  2020 was an incredibly hard year, but I’ve been trying to do whatever I can. Painting has helped remind me that hope and beauty may lie in unlikely places but are no less meaningful because of it.

Awarded Scholastic Silver Key for painting, Manhattan Borough Award, virtually displayed at the MoMA