This work encompasses almost all of the themes I feel connected to. By looking closer at myself and why I’m drawn to certain artists and work, I’ve found that my identities of gender, sexuality and my physical body are topics I want to further explore in my work. This painting is a depiction of sisterhood. My two closest friends and I, and the love we share. We are similar in many ways, in our queerness, gender expressions, and view of the world, however we support each other in our unique identities. We are connected, as seen in the sensual touch we share in the painting. The touch is comforting and a reminder that we are together, that we are one form, even though we are unique on our own. 

Beyond sisterhood, ideas of femininity were at the forefront of my mind when painting. These three figures are feminine in their bodies and lightly clothed, but not in a sexualized way. This was something I wanted to explore in this work. A group of women in their bodies, not sexualized, just sitting, existing. Being a woman, and the social pressures that come with that makes existing in your own body difficult. Although we all have different body types, I wanted to depict us all with equal value. Each body is important, each is beautiful and neutral in the space. Ideas of body image and body dysmorphia are inspirations to this aspect of the work. I wanted to depict us realistically, and create a sense of truth to our forms. Most of my work explores my own body, and in many ways it’s an attempt to understand what I truly look like. The mirror can often betray us. This desire for truth connects back to the plants that surround us. They emphasize the idea of natural bodies, that we are as beautiful as the nature that surrounds us, that we are just as real. Our bodies are nature and nature is us. The skull as well connects us to the earth, that before life we were the earth, and after death we will return to earth, our bodies feeding the ground. Not as a return to nature, because even in life, we are nature.