ROSE SILBERMAN-GORNI make surreal, bizarre paintings, using acrylic paint and markers on paper to depict cartoonish imagery in bright colors. In my work, I depict imaginary creatures, distorted faces, and childish motifs like dolls and clowns, often appearing cute but unsettling. I’m drawn to this imagery due to complex trauma experienced as a child which still impacts me. My artwork is a way of simultaneously processing my trauma, escaping from it, and reimagining the childhood that I didn’t have. The anxiety, withdrawal, grief, and repression that come from trauma are expressed in the disturbed expressions, feverishly overlapping imagery, and vividly imagined creatures. I work in a stream-of-conscious manner, often painting over and changing things as I go along. I’ve recently expanded my practice by creating small sculptures out of polymer clay, another medium with childish connotations. These figures, with their soft, organic shapes and adorable visages, represent different aspects of emotional fallout from growing up with a narcissistic mother. My work flaunts cuteness in the face of bleakness, showcasing the resilience and strength of the human spirit in the face of trauma. FOLLOW ROSE @rosesilb |