what it means to be brave is a body of work centered around the personal study of the inner balance between vulnerability and strength from a feminist point of view. The effect of trauma on the body and mind is at the center of the work and conjured through the use of symbolic mediums and imagery like oil paint, chains and pearls. From the very definition of vulnerability comes the question of how to let the world in when you have been hurt time and time again. This body of work aspires to be a message of hope, of resilience, a visualization of an interior battle in the hopes of resolving it through catharsis. It places the artist at the center of the work by utilizing introspective self-portraits, calling onto the humanity of the viewer as they view the artist’s vulnerability on display and inevitably judge this body of work.