Soon to graduate with a bachelor’s in Fine Art Studio, Cheyenne Brooks is a multimedia artist. Raised in Jones County, Georgia, she has had a knack for art from a young age. By the age of 12, she had begun a private weekly study with a teacher to begin learning the basics of 2D art. Starting at drawing in graphite to move on to charcoal, pastels, watercolor, then finally painting. This birthed a large interest in all ways someone could express themself, so when she eventually made her way to studying art in high school and college, she pursued every version of studio class she could. Finding herself in all manners of self-manifestation along the way.
Artist Statement
My name is Cheyenne Brooks, and I am undiagnosed neurodivergent. Growing up in this society I did not have the means to learn in what way I was different and why until I was older. My family was in the medical field, and my mother, was extremely loving and caring, but, being a nurse, had a hard time admitting when there was something wrong or different with me that she could not fix. I needed my experience to be validated in it’s differences, so I could learn to validate myself. Instead I was validated in ways of perfection. In the end, that’s the mask I tried to wear, of the people pleaser, the mediator, the calm one.
Masks only hide the inner turmoil, and they separate people from the honor of getting to know the real you, the truth behind the blank face. Even today I have a hard time shedding it, to allow people to look in. I only open up to a few people. I trust these people with the more vulnerable parts of myself. A current struggle is being pulled between my views of family, past and future which is tearing my heart in two.
Project Statement
In this installation, I want to invite the viewer to experience the levels of intimacy and vulnerability it takes to share in another’s battle with the unknown, generational trauma, and undiagnosed medical issues. This invitation is extended by having a peephole in the mind’s eye of what appears to be outer calm. Watch the images change inside from one problem to the next in an endless cycle, only to be let out by those deemed safe to discuss them.
