Captured Feelings

Maddie Wilson

I am constantly hanging in the balance between worry and hope. Often being pulled in either direction by fleeting advances that seem to sink over me, making them easy to slip into and lose grip of reality. Tugging at the edges of my conscious is the knowledge that emotions aren’t meant to govern, only guide. Everyday this tug-of-war happens, a war between flesh and spirit. Where worry succeeds, hope fails; where hope wins, fear is gone. As I’ve matured, the stakes have gotten higher, and life seems more dire. I sink further. But I’ve also grown in knowledge. I’ve learned to analyze emotions and the way they make me feel, to have self-control. I learned that emotions shouldn’t hold me captive. That I can dictate the trajectory of a feeling without losing grip. That there is hope amid suffering.

Captured Feelings delves into an emotional duality. Through abstract interpretation, I examined how emotions have been revealed to me throughout my lifetime and how I have reacted. At first glance, this emotional journey might not be apparent. Whether it’s a dragonfly motif to explain a young man’s tragic ending and hopeful beginning or two cars paralleling a real-life experience of getting in a car accident, each piece exists because of a moment in time. Finding it easier to fall into fear and worry, I used harsh angles and shape-driven design that clings to the page. Personified through wispy lines and elements from nature, I illustrated the chaotic hope of the Creator that pulls me out of sorrow. Utilizing photographs taken throughout my travels, I allowed them to dictate the direction of some of the pieces and incorporated some of the joy that life has brought me.

Most importantly, this show is my way of saying thank you. Giving thanks for the life I have lived, and the life still yet to be experienced. For getting to live in the balance. While fear and worry are still trying to pull me down, hope always wins.