Sometimes An Explanation Isn’t Coming

During NYFW this year, I had the opportunity to speak with a homie about the meaning behind our designs, our art, and the ideas we release into the world. I elaborated on how its a challenge for me to have to continue speaking about the creativity that I am putting on view for others to ingest and he validated me and that’s all I really needed lol.

He put it in real nigga terms for me by saying he could relate because some of the great works being exhibited come from a period of pain and who really wants to keep discussing that. Let me put it in the perspective he did; some people write to transmute their energy. Some people make music. He makes designs clothes. I make art. And we are using these methods as the vehicle to transmute a cycle or period of life that may not have been painful and extremely tough. Like I gotta get this shit off my heart and soul to move on and look at it from a different perspective.

Union

Acrylic, Oil, and Cotton/Poly Twill

24x30

2024 | Los Angeles

So why I am talking about this?? Because when I made “Union”, my first EVER self-portrait, I was going through a tough time. One of the toughest times in my life. PERIOD. Full stop. And I’ve already alluded on social media to some of the pain I went through that culminated in making this painting and I also alluded that I would go a little more into detail. Well babes, I CHANGED MY MIND. I’m not talking about it anymore because I’m moving on. Ingest the painting and feel what you feel which I hope is joy, love, and enchantment.

What I will elaborate on is that painting that version of myself has led me to a new expression in my art that allows me to bridge both fashion and art together in a way that feels very organic and natural for me. I  get to design clothes and grant myself and my subjects the permission to wear these elaborate designs that are uniquely designed to speak to beauty of one’s life journey and surface level beauty in the garments and portrait.  Creating these ornamental and embellished designs for my art feeds my inner teenager that was so geeked designing prom dresses for my friends in high school. This expression and medium is allowing me to connect very deeply with little Ariel and teenage Ariel. I’m living.

So all that to say, while there will be no explanation for “Union”, there will be more background and behind the scenes photos and commentary on my artwork in the near future. I asked God to show me how good it can get and i’m going to show y’all just how good God has made it in the next few weeks. Stay locked in with me cause I promise its going to get GOOODDDD ✨💗.

What Do I Call This?

OOH THIS IS SCARY 🫣

Last month I had the idea that I would write a blog. The idea seemed like a suitable way for my work to make a connection and it helps reduce the shame of being personal 😅 on social media. The fast nature of social media doesn’t resonate with me and yes I’ve tried to be personal on social media before and it has resonated well with other people but something about creating connection in that arena still doesn’t feel right to me. And since I don’t yet possess the sophisticated story telling skills of Reesa Tessa to captivate the short attention span of social media, I decided on a slower and longer form that is the art of writing. Now let’s have a heart-to-heart moment real quick… God keeps putting this idea in my head and I need to do it for some personal development. So WELCOME to my blog. I aint got a name for it yet 🫣. I’ll figure that out later LOL.

So Why Am I Making A Blog?

The idea of a blog was spurred because I painted my first self-portrait this year and when posting for instagram I alluded to some of the changes I had experienced in the past year that led me to making the painting. In completely honesty, I still felt like I hadn’t elaborated on both the painstaking and elaborate moments of life that brought me to making my first self-portrait. And I feel compelled to share — I.E. NEXT BLOG COMING SOON — because I want to be more vulnerable and share how my experience inspires my artwork.  So for the last three months I’ve been trying to figure out how to do that and we have arrived here at this blog. Also Donye Taylor definitely inspired this move because I’m subscribed to her newsletter and I just love how she navigates being both genuine and cultivated in that space.

If you’ve made it this far, THANK YOU and if you are interested to follow along and get some insight into the extraordinary playground that is my mind stay connected for more entries.