Begging, crying, screaming for basic human connection in a totally flawed, fricked, and skewed system.
My series demonstrates the harm caused by socioeconomic systems on today’s young adults, resulting in a generation that is burned out and choosing to reject the current workforce. More specifically, my art reflects the damage my familial relationships, career, and even my art practice have experienced while searching for alternatives for a more hopeful future.
I felt compelled to create this series as an overworked student. I had two jobs, a “side hustle”, and barely felt like a human. This is considered “the grind” and isn’t only expected but praised in our society. The fetishization of labor results in an exhausted, traumatized, and terrifyingly self-aware generation who cope through memes about the absurdity of the “American dream.”
I attempt to reveal an intimate view into a young professional's life, on and off the job with a focus on my experience as a waitress. The series allows space for the possibility of empathy and personal reflection. The audience can witness my class consciousness grow with every paycheck, like seeds in fresh soil. The desire to examine social structures, such as late-stage capitalism, consumes me. Researching the effects on an individual and educating myself in an attempt to understand other peoples’ circumstances is what gives my work purpose.
Rehumanizing these small moments of acceptance through satirical, surreal compositions, invites a much-needed assertion that there is more to life than making money.
