Intimacy
Intimacy /‘in(t)əməsē/
noun (plural intimacies)
close familiarity or friendship; closeness: the intimacy between one and oneself; partner; family; community.
Grief is not predictable; it can not be forced into a time frame, a shape, or a feeling. Grief is something that exists inside of you, and it is there to stay. Time passes, and in fact, growth begins happening within and around it. The smallest bud says two things to you: there is hope, and there is still quite a long journey ahead. Hold your grief gently, you’re building a relationship with it, and as with all relationships, it will evolve, in time.
Where is your relationship with grief today?
Hold Your Grief Gently
PanPastel and graphite on paper
20" x 40"
2022
High Bar
Graphite and PanPastel on paper
21" x 21"
2022
Ambition is a terrific force. Acknowledging a goal and doing all that you can to achieve it is an admirable quality that often brings about many wonderful things in life. Though, do we take enough time to sit back and bask in our hard work and achievements before charging on to the next thing? Ambition versus personal expectation to be “great” can often be misconstrued for one another. Holding a high bar for oneself can create an illusion that anything below that bar is inadequate, or not fully formed. If the bar is constantly rising, when do we get to celebrate our accomplishments and relax into who we are today? This tension is carried around quietly by many.
How do you manage your personal expectations of yourself?
We See What You’re Doing Here
PanPastel and graphite on paper
14" x 9.5"
2023
The oppression of women is ongoing. Our violators may think they are sly while working hard to strip away our autonomy and silence our voices. Though our eyes remain open wide, witnessing and understanding every move as the fight for our rights continues.
What do you see?
Outside
Graphite on paper
22" x 24"
2020
“Navigating relationships, idealized roles, and social expectations comes with its multitudes of toxicity and challenges. Sometimes we can become caught in projections of who we should be and what we should be doing without really seeing our true selves in the picture. In these moments, it’s incredibly challenging to be fully present in our own skin; to a degree, we exist as an emotional bystander, just outside.”
When do you feel outside of yourself?
The Work
PanPastel and graphite on paper
20" x 22"
2022
It takes an emotionally open and present person to acknowledge when internal shifts are needing to occur. However, acknowledging is the easy part. In practice, it requires extraordinary courage, dedication, and self love to actually face oneself and do the inner work to change. When this happens, we find ourselves again, our life becomes more vibrant, and we build strength to continue to face the challenges that life inevitably brings.
When have you done “the work”?
Beginning to Bare
Graphite on paper
14.75" x 20"
2020
We so often show up with what we believe to be our best traits in the foreground. As we develop relationships, we strive to keep it that way. We all, inevitably, have traits that we are not so proud of - ones that we want to remain beneath the preview to those around us. Beginning to bare these parts is scary - will you still be accepted and loved, or will you be turned away? This does come with a risk, but finding the courage to do so leads to deeper intimacy with yourself, and with all those around you who lovingly stay there to bear witness.
Who have you bared your less-desirable qualities to?
The Homes We Make
Graphite and PanPastel on paper
21" x 28"
2021
The body I have is the body I’ve got” - a statement that can be filled with pride or with shame, depending on the day. We reside in our skin, we make a home of it. At times, our external residence reflects how we feel internally - clean and “put together,” or a mess of dirty dishes, piles of laundry. To step outside is an act of modesty, putting on clothes to cover our bodies: our genitals, our folds, our scars, all that which we may or may not identify with. Every day we interact with these vessels, sometimes feeling right at home, other times an imposter staring back at us through the mirror.
How do you feel inside the home you’ve made today?
How to Be
Graphite and PanPastel on paper
23" x 29"
2024
Portrayed in this self-portrait is the mirror that hangs in the threshold of Gallagher’s studio. Walking past it countless times a day, it captures her as she moves in and out of the creative process - and what a comprehensive process it is. The process of artistic choices and application; the process of physically checking what is on the paper; the process of navigating artistic identity; and finally, the ever-evolving process of discovering who she am as a whole person.
This is a portrait of an artist truly engaged in the question of how to be right now. Much like one’s reflection in a mirror, our unique roadmap of “how to be” changes every day, sometimes in subtle ways, other times as if you’re staring at a life brand new.
When you look at yourself in the mirror today, what does your reflection tell you about the choices you’ve made while navigating how to be?