I make paintings about how our past shapes who we are. My work explores memory, family, and motherhood through invented landscapes that use color and the recurring metaphor of the puddle. Puddles are fleeting pools of water that mirror their surroundings, appearing with the rain and vanishing just as quickly. Through this metaphor, I consider how memories surface and fade, how family stories and silences are layered and carried forward, and how the shifting roles of motherhood continually transform identity. Everything overlaps in one space, much like how our experiences overlap and blur together in memory.

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Erika b Hess 2025