My thesis is best understood through the lens of Georgia Okeeffe. Her body of work largely revolves around the communication of something art critics coined “the inner haptic of nature.” Contrary to popular belief her work had little to do with her sexuality and yonic nods. It instead had everything to do with an intangible, inner sensation, connection, and beauty within nature. She went about capturing this by tightly cropping flowers. Through this tight cropping, she often stripped the flowers of their original, familiar context. By removing much of the iconography, one is forced to instead engage with the form itself—subtle tone shifts, arching, powerful biomorphic lines often leading to a vibrating center.

Months past after hearing this wonderful lecture for the first time.  I saw (with admitted satisfaction) that unbeknownst to me, my work was running parallel to hers in a pertinent, authentic way. Using her technique as a lens, I realized that instead of tightly cropping flowers and removing them from their familiar context, I am manipulating typography in this biomorphic and fluid way. In doing so, I remove the characters from their context of legibility, asking one to engage with the form and hoping it can articulate something about the beauty I see within myself and the world.

I wondered, what exactly was this inner haptic of myself I was trying to articulate. I grew up doing capoeira for 10 years, recently returning to it. As I said, the sport comprises organic, fluid, and beautiful exchanges between the two players as they maneuver around the center of the Roda. I cannot articulate how precisely correct and natural it feels to move my body in this way again. I believe it only makes sense that I would be so attracted to a style of illustration and typography that subconsciously articulated aspects of the art my body was engaging with simultaneously. It makes sense to me that this art of Capoeira planted a seed in my heart from a young age. I cannot express how happy it makes me to see this seed blossoming into a Georgia O’Keeffe painting. I now understand more than ever how I have Capoeira to thank for much of who I am today.