Roughly Right

In my artistic practice, I try to make room for mistakes, even though that does not come naturally to me. As a child, I was often perfectionistic, and I still struggle with letting things go. Failed attempts, broken lines, and imperfect forms unsettle me, yet they also draw me in. I attempt to stay with what goes wrong, to reinterpret it rather than immediately correct it.
When I draw with my children, I notice how quickly they run into limits: it is not right, not beautiful. I recognize that voice. I hope to guide them toward seeing new possibilities in abstract spills and smudges, to experience how something failed can become something else. For me, art is not about flawless results, but about learning to think differently. A hesitant ode to failure. I am drawn to conceptual illustration, to rethinking traditional imagery and looking for another angle, something that comes together for me in this work. In this work, I also reflect on the ideal of a perfect self-image. The figure functions as a real-life self-portrait. He tries to reshape what he sees, to improve it, yet remains uncertain. The result is rough, unfinished, but acceptable. Roughly right.