the imperfectionist
view the full collection hereI never really felt like I was good enough. When I was young, I learned that getting straight A’s and following the rules resulted in praise. So, I continued doing what was expected of me, upholding every expectation placed on me and never taking a moment to think about what I actually wanted. I strived to be perfect for the people around me, but as I got older I felt burnt out and disconnected from myself. The harder I tried to be good enough for everyone else, the emptier I felt. For so long, I ignored the most important person in my life - myself.
In high school, I was part of an after-school art program where I spent two hours a day creating anything I wanted. I had always loved making art, but I never felt like I was good at it; I was so focused on trying to make art that was “beautiful,” constantly comparing it to the students around me. Over time, I started to realize art wasn’t about creating something that looked beautiful - it was simply meant to be an expression of my inner world. I began connecting with myself and creating intuitively and freely, resulting in abstract, pen-on-paper faces.
Here is some of my art from high school:
Creating these imperfect faces that didn’t seem to belong anywhere was healing for me, although I don’t know if I realized it at the time. They represented the parts of me that felt misunderstood, out of place, and wrong. Yet they were beautiful to me. I could see the beauty in their imperfections and uniqueness. And I think this taught me to view myself in a new light - just because others can’t understand me doesn’t mean I’m not good enough.
Over the years, I have continued drawing these abstract faces anytime there’s a pen and piece of paper near me. Most people know me for my colorful, digital art, but my creations all originally stem from abstract black and white faces. The Imperfectionist is a tribute to my roots as an artist, and my journey of connection and self-love. Each abstract being in the collection is reaching towards a heart outside of its own, which represents the way I struggled with (and still sometimes struggle with) looking for love and validation outside of myself. We will only ever feel like enough if we connect to the heart within. Moral of the story: you never can and never will be perfect. But you can be enough for yourself. And that is more fulfilling than anything.
collection details
The Imperfectionist is a collection of 111 unique 1/1 physical sketches scanned and minted as NFTs on the ethereum blockchain, dropping on November 1st (11/1) on OpenSea. Mint price is 0.044 ETH, but any of my current collectors will have unlimited priority minting access at 0.033 ETH - just reach out to me and let me know which piece(s) you’re interested in and I will reserve them for you; or feel free to send offer(s) on OpenSea for 0.033 ETH once the collection is live. You can view the collection on OpenSea here.
Each holder will receive the physical sketch and a hand-drawn thank you card by filling out the form at the bottom of this page. Once the collection sells out (however long that may take), 3 wallet addresses will be randomly selected to win something from my shop. The more NFTs you hold from the collection, the greater your chance of winning!
Thank you for your support, I love you allllll!!!!!
I also filmed a YouTube video going into more detail on the collection and what inspired it: