Betsy Schley
This body of work takes on an abstract floral view of duality. I would like to propose that rather than duality being opposites going against each other, they are two opposites that are complimentary to one another. They work together to create balance. One cannot fully understand joy without knowing what sadness is, much like one could not fully understand the darkness without knowing what light is. I feel it is important to understand this connection because everyone faces dualities/polarities within themselves. Growing up there were parts of me I did not like, parts of my personality that I had wished were different, parts of me that brought dis/comfort. I did not like that I was introverted or that I was so open with people. After I began to see these parts as working together to make up the person I was and not against one another I was able to experience much growth and acceptance of myself.
I believe that understanding the dualities within ourselves can lead to individual growth and self-love. In this body of work one can see the polarities as sections of complex floral patterns and areas of empty space. It is not the intended goal to go out of the way to make these parts complimentary to each other. The idea is to put these seemingly different parts of complexity and emptiness into the same piece. It is enough that these sections just exist together. By simply existing together on the piece of paper they create a piece of artwork or body of work demonstrating that opposites do work together not against.
