Pure O

This piece is my first installment of a new series dedicated to investigating and expressing my experiences with OCD. The 25 1.5’’ x 2’’ wooden crosses were meticulously covered with seed beads. Growing up in a Catholic household had an immense impact on my perceptions of morality and obsessive fear of death. The individual placement of each bead and quantity of crosses represents this scrupulosity.

The three dark crosses at the center symbolize my relationship to the religion from childhood to adolescence. Over time, however, I have developed my own spirituality to better fit my personal ideals and find comfort and peace, where I had previously found fear and despair. This growth corresponds with the surrounding colorful, plentiful array of upright crosses, and the way in which the process has completely transformed the visuals and texture of them.