In Between Moments
Sonder
Sonder: the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own..” (John Koenig) I invite viewers to develop a more empathetic understanding of those around them.

Linger
Linger
Oil on Canvas with time-lapse overlay
40X30in
This work uses time and motion to highlight the brevity of human life. To exemplify the way in which people may come and go through your life. The fast blurred figures represent the way people may be a blurred figure in the background of your life, while they go amongst their own lives.


“Glimpse “

Glimpse
Oil on Canvas with audio element
24X36in
We are offered a glimpse into other people’s lives, a peek into the intimacy behind closed doors that we are not privy to. In the same way that we will never know the true extent of the lives those around us lead. The audio aspect creates another layer into the work, it is personal audio I collected and overlayed in a contemporary tone. The audio creates more curiosity as one tries to assign a voice to one of the apartments.

“Dwelling”
Dwelling
Foam Board sculpture with videography
20X15
The home resembles the life-span of a person, such that we mark heigh on the walls and every dent and stain holds a story. I purposefully made it half structural to symbolize getting to know someone is like building up a full picture. There are tender moments of friends and strangers that unfolds within the structure, spilling out onto the walls. You cannot see the full picture, in the same way we cannot truly understand another.

In Between Moments: Sonder
During the pandemic, the term sonder, introduced by John Koenig in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, swiftly became my favorite word. Koenig defines sonder as “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own…in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background.”
My intention was to make the word sonder into something concrete and visible. I use video projections on architectural models and paintings with audio tracks to invite the feeling of sonder as an observer of strangers. My body of work explores the narratives of our shared humanity; we all have stories, yet we rarely connect with the strangers around us.
My works are about space, time, and memory. I pull from childhood experiences, my time abroad, and connections I have made across language barriers. Sonder is an invitation for people to foster a more empathetic understanding of those around them. Given that it can be hard to know the depths and heights of each other's experiences, sonder invites us to be curious and increasingly compassionate towards one another.