Art

Painting has always been how I express what's inside me — the parts of my story that don't fit neatly into sentences. Flowers, faces, and yes, even a self-portrait or two: each one is a way of putting on canvas what I couldn't always say out loud.

I believe every adoptee has to find what brings them healing, and it doesn't look the same for everyone. Some find it in music, some in dance, some become rappers, some find it standing at an easel like I do. None of these paths is more valid than another — they're just different doors into the same room.

If you're an adoptive parent, this is part of what I hope you'll take from this page: when your child finds their own way of expressing what's inside them, even if it looks nothing like what you expected, that's healing happening. Let them find their door.

For Every Thing There Is a Season
(1976, silkscreen print, ed. 1/15)

This one holds a special place. It's based on Ecclesiastes 3:11 — "He has made everything beautiful in its time" — and it represents the first time faith began to take root in my heart. I made it as a silkscreen print with my adoptive dad, and that alone makes it one of the most special pieces I own.