As someone who has had experience living in poverty for the better half of my entire life, my perception of my living situation changed when I started entertaining the idea of pursuing the arts for my career. Suddenly, I became aware of how my given financial situation would affect me in ways that my peers were certainly not experiencing. There is something to be said about the completion of this project within the space that the feeling of isolation stems from – art school.
With a series of three paintings, I aim to illustrate my personal reality of living in poverty as someone within the art world. Along with a narrative of the general struggle that comes with living below the poverty line, my paintings will illustrate the personal reality that comes with my journey in the arts and art education, as well as lived experiences such as working, home environments, etc. Part of the challenge of this body of work is figuring out how to convey experiences that are not always visual. Similarly, the topic of poverty is broad, and with this triptych, I focus on my experiences specifically since this is what I have the most knowledge of.
