There's no way of telling when you've become the truest form of yourself due to how erratic one’s self is, but through my art I have found a medium to print my existence as truthfully as possible. The internal thoughts that I'm too timid to share through words, the cravings I own in
my body, and the combination of everything I’ll never experience. It's perfectly laid out with each painting or sculpture. By reflecting my present self onto my art, I find peace knowing that my past identity won't be forgotten.

My inspiration at its base level is the sci-fi genre but I found it essential that it became more personal to me. Classic sci-fi media always has a woman who is scantily clad and in need of rescue from a foreign planet. It’s undeniable that I make art that is oftentimes suggestive. I believe there is a universal itch for sexuality as it is so prevalent in art. I make art using this desire for its sensitive nature as it is an irreparable feeling that hides in many people.

None of my pieces happen immediately. Ideas may sit in my journal for months before I decide to come back to them, but those plans typically lead to my most favorite pieces. An example of this would be the painting “Anyone Out There?” which went through many alterations through changes in perspectives, posing, and colors before becoming the solidified piece.

My material of choice is acrylic paint as it gives me full control of the composition, allowing me a space to filter my thoughts into concepts. The canvas permits my subjects to lay on the vastness of space, leaving room for design. By placing solid rectangles and arcs of color that are neither behind or in front of the subject, I’m able to utilize them solely for design, boxing in the model on display. This can be observed in “Bare Space” as the woman lays absent minded, the viewer can see a part of the expanse that she is oblivious to, shapes contain the space surrounding her, curving to match the angle of her leg. In this piece specifically, it displays her restriction in the uncomfortable and constrained pose.

I strive to make art that takes something that is so utterly internal and gives it a visual, like taking a picture inside the hidden parts of my brain just to see myself in it.

— Nora Gwyn, 2026 Martel Award Recipient