Behind the art
naked mind
In Milly’s Naked Mind she is portraying her interpretation of this concept: the naked mind is one’s thoughts without the complexities of overthinking, fear of judgments and insecurities. She wanted to capture the intimacy of the mind in human connections when one allows another to accept and see past another’s dark thoughts and experiences. Experiences shape our perception, and our perception alters our deepest thoughts. She portrays how the acceptance of another’s naked mind is one of the most intimate forms of connection that humans naturally crave.
falling facade
In Milly’s Falling Facade she is portraying how our generation is so scared of emotional vulnerability. The subject is transparent because it represents the irony of wanting intimacy yet not allowing ourselves to take the emotional risks needed to achieve it. She conveys with her piece how intimacy is making the choice to connect rather than staying safe in isolation, and in her words to choose happiness over being just content.
innocent embrace
“She said nothing with her voice and everything with her touch.” In Innocent Embrace Milly conveys another form of intimacy in regards to physical touch. She has created this piece to present how the deepest moments of intimacy are not always through words but rather can be built through one’s touch. The hands grasping the arm in this piece is to express the misconception of today’s society viewing physical intimacy to just be about sex. Milly’s message is to remind us how feeling another’s touch can actually bring back a sense of innocence and purity from our childhood. As Milly got older she explains how she learned physical intimacy to be the melding of two people’s experiences and traumas without the need for words.
fleeting devotion
In Fleeting Devotion I & II, Milly portrays her thoughts on the concept of “looking through a rose colored lens.” Through this series she was inspired by stained glass works and how she felt it related to this concept. Milly explains how our perspectives alter significantly when building connections from only the perspective of “the rose colored lens.” Only allowing us to see the beauty and light; much like how sunlight hits stained glass works. But to every connection there is reality filled with imperfections and cracks, and she uses these works to portray ironically how looking through this lens makes fleeting moments of intimacy rather than anything that could be lasting. So Milly reminds you with her Fleeting Devotion Series… Just as stained glass shines when the sun hits, the sun eventually sets leaving it to be just broken pieces of glass.
fleeting devotion II.
Unconscious resistance
Unconscious Resistance was Milly’s way to convey her take on the idea of one’s mind and heart at odds…She is sharing the strain it takes to decide whether one should take the risk of emotional vulnerability or stay in the isolation of being content. She portrays the two figures being held back from one another to convey how love isn’t always enough.
So Milly leaves you with this question…is pining after someone else’s acceptance worth the loss of your own?
willfully blinded
To build intimacy in any relationship is to be willfully blinded. Trust is followed by vulnerability and without trust the connection cannot be built on a stable foundation. It is a type of intimacy that to many view as cliche but Milly portrays her take on the concept of “love is blind”. Real intimacy in a connection cannot be built without blind trust in the other person which can lead to throwing away our common sense and our own reality.
Sightless vulnerability
In the beginning of any relationship we’re hiding what we find ugly or dark from the other person. Milly created Sightless Vulnerability to emphasize the darkness around letting the fear of vulnerability consume us. This fear of being vulnerable is so difficult in letting someone see you without being judged, therefore we try to cover each other's eyes from the truth only to complain about how we feel unseen by the other person.
Threaded fate
Since Milly was a child she fell in love with the old Asian folklore called The Red String of Fate. The legend is how everyone’s finger is tied to an invisible red thread that connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. In Threaded Fate Milly highlights her childlike hope in love paying homage to her favorite childhood story. It emphasizes how at the heart of this romance, the string can be stretched, twisted, and tangled yet never broken.