Maliyah

Artist Statement

Maliyah is a series of images that represent a universal story of childhood, self-reflection, and identity construction. They are the creative responses of watching my daughter develop her own sense of identity. Photos composed of the attributes of being an only child; anti-social, independent, lonely, and constantly drifting into her own creative space. In addition to my daughter evolving as we expand our family and seeing the impacts on her identity. Each photograph is dense with personal significance that allows the series to unfold as a visual diary. The photographs illustrate a visual passage; the sweet, innocence, the profound, happiness, and the peculiar moments, but essentially only existing within the boundaries of my daughter’s world and her connection to the things around her.

My photographs are born from the idea of self-portraiture that shifted to embody a child's world exploring identity in a deeper context. This is a walk into my daughter’s identity and her unveiling of self. This is a personal journey that manifested beyond my daughter’s exploration of self, encompassing a mother’s feelings and everything in between. It became somewhat autobiographical, showing the connection and impacts of my identity and role as a mother on the very complex and beautiful development of my daughters’ identity. Each image can be taken at face value but is intended to force the viewer to go beyond the images content to see something within themselves—memories from childhood, snippets from their daily lives, roles as parents or just adults still refining their own sense of identity.

This ongoing series is an exploration of the journey of identity construction from my daughter’s position. This encompasses societal constructs exploring the many facets to the complexities of her identity that are often suppressed or hidden depending on where she is, what she is doing and how that shapes her behavior. Each photo has a deeper story embedded. Complex depictions of my daughter’s sense of self and the environment around her. I believe the images transcend the everyday to tell an evocative. A universal story of my daughter’s identity; a visual narrative of playfulness, independence, life, telling moments, and meaningful gestures.