Yabe, Mizuki

I noticed that I kept drawing women, girls that I identify with in my paintings. At the end of the piece, I noticed that this image is my pictorial representation of what it feels like to be overthinking. At times, I notice that even if I catch myself overthinking, I cannot escape it, and the thoughts keep flooding in. I believe the splattered paint across her head represents this feeling authentically. This work includes splattered dried oil paint glued onto the canvas overlapping a bright red undertone I laid down before adding the glued background. In the center is a naturalistic depiction of a woman looking off to the side, looking lackadaisical and unfocused, lost in thought. This portrait is actually the third layer of paints I applied to the surface, as I struggled to depict a proper representational face twice in the layers below. Many times, her expression looked a bit too angry, or a bit too sad.

I am a Japanese American student currently finishing up my undergraduate degree at UBC working from home. I am finishing up my degree in psychology and the idea of entering the workforce has been daunting yet exciting for me. I love to paint and listen to music, and those experiences along with the close friends in my inner bubble have supported me through this quarantine.