Flawed Perfection is a piece I created while reflecting on the dual life I’ve often had to live. There’s who we are, and then there’s who we are expected to be in front of a certain kind of crowd.

On the outside, I would appear composed hair perfectly styled, clothes neatly ironed, shoes polished, entirely put together for others to see. But internally, I felt like a mess like a tangle of earphone wires, impossible to smooth out.

This painting lives in that contrast. It captures the tension between outward perfection and inner chaos.

The quote, “their hair smelled like art. I put my fingers through their hair and felt the pain,” is a quiet plea. My own hair looked like perfection, but I knew that the moment I touched it, I would unleash the chaos let down my guard, undo the illusion, and finally feel something real.