Katelynn Acord

My work is centered around dealing with levels of depression and anxiety that are overwhelming and personal.  Painting and drawing processes are a way to navigate the aspects of the self that feel foreign.  I continue to alternate between replicating dreams, memories, and the uncontrollable repetitive thoughts that negatively affect one's mental health.

I work with mixed media, primarily using digital means, acrylic paint, drawing materials like charcoal or pastels, and textiles. My pieces communicate the out-of-body realization of losing innocence from childhood and the feeling of losing comfort from what were once reliable sources. The current focus is on the aspect of losing the blissful ignorance of childhood, and the liminal space dreams can offer in forging these repressed emotions.

The work I have developed expresses the loss of innocence that comes with growing up. Learning about internal and external struggles never acknowledged or understood during childhood, but now with proper context and reflection, were sources of loss and pain. I am currently using textiles, often in the form of stuffed animals, as the focus of this series. By adding another head, extra legs, or altering the proportions of these otherwise wholesome beings, I express the subtle unease that hovers on the edges of our consciousness when we realize yet another thing we lost while growing up. These plush toys are typically a source of comfort; they are often soft, cute, and easily remind many of a joyful, simple time. They are a visual representation of childhood innocence now corrupted.

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