I am always moving, whether it is my leg shaking incessantly or my hand recurringly wandering to pick a scab on my chin. I have Dermatillamania, a bodily-focused repetitive behavior that drives me to self-soothe by plucking, squeezing, and scraping perceived imperfections off of my skin. As such, prominent scabs and blemishes on my face are a reality I have struggled with since I was a child, and, as part of who I am, the condition has influenced my approach to self-portraiture.
I embrace visible process in painting as a means to reveal my mental and emotional state. When I surrender myself to instinct, my method naturally evolves to mimic the compulsion of picking; I do not know why I do it, yet I am compelled to finish what I start. Each piece has a life of its own that urges me to follow its lead, resulting in dynamic mark making, responsive color decisions, overwhelming scale, and exposed layers of the painting’s evolution.
– Taylor Nordmoe, Class of 2024
