“Choose Joy”, 2023

Terracotta and Textiles, 12’’x12’’

Coming out of a season of growth, I have been challenged a lot in my understanding of my emotions. As someone who traditionally allows my emotions to dictate every action, I have recently learned the importance of a solid foundation for one's outlook on life. The statement “choose joy” has always brought me anger as I am passionate about allowing yourself to feel things, however the further I explored what this means within my own life I was able to find a new definition for this seemingly cliché phrase. Joy is defined as “a feeling of great pleasure or happiness”, within my own exploration of the work I realized that joy is not simply a feeling but rather a state of being.

My work addresses the biblical definition of joy and the idea that joy comes from the character of the Lord rather than circumstances. We as humans tend to clothe ourselves with what is around us and I am surely a victim of this. My work explores the idea that joy can be a mindset, we get to absorb and feel what is around us with delight in being able to feel deeply and grow from our experiences and feelings. This piece sets up the viewer to be able to choose how they view what is presented in front of them, being solid in form and fluid in environment.