Animals to Limbs

I explore the dual nature of childhood imagination, where wonder and innocence are laced with a subtle, dark irony. The series captures dreamlike images that at first evoke nostalgia and playful fantasy, but upon closer inspection, reveal unsettling narratives about our fractured relationship with life and nature and the world we once saw through innocent eyes.

Each piece reflects a delicate balance between whimsy and foreboding. A seahorse fallen from a tipped-over glass of freshwater hints at the fragility of life displaced by human carelessness, an object of fascination now out of its element, gasping for survival. A surreal herd of animals, stretching from the Arctic to the Sahara, mirrors childhood play with toy figurines, but also hints at the unnatural collision of ecosystems forced together in the face of climate disruption. In another image, a torrential downpour over the ocean becomes a symbol of nature’s overwhelming power and our inability to control or predict it. A dismembered limb, covered with a sheet, adds a macabre twist to the series, suggesting how easily the boundaries between innocence and violence blur in the stories children tell themselves. As well as covering a truth that may not be shared for fear of reprisal.

Through these images, I seek to highlight the irony of how we romanticize childhood imagination while ignoring the darker truths it often reveals. The playful innocence of youth, with its boundless creativity, is both a source of hope and a reminder of how easily we can distort or overlook reality. The fantastical scenes I create ask viewers to reflect on the stories we tell ourselves—stories that comfort us in the face of a complex and sometimes threatening world.

"Animals to Limbs" encourages a return to childhood wonder, but with a critical eye. It is an invitation to confront the unsettling truths that hide beneath the surface of our imaginations, urging us to reconsider the innocence we cling to and the consequences it may obscure.