The story behind the Perfect Imperfections art show.
I created my first piece right after I had Little Myles, my firstborn. You know, right after I had the belly and the stretch marks. Right after I received my forever scar and memory. You know, right after my body changed for good. I had just had a c-section and my big, ole tummy felt like it was just hanging down my body.
So naturally, I would reminisce on old photos and just pout because I knew I had a long way to go until I can get back to the way my body used to look. I mean, I could barely even move from side to side in my bed, let alone work out. I would always catch myself looking at old pictures of me, pictures of girls on social media, and pictures of my friends and family and get jealous. I wanted my flat, no stretch mark, regular color belly back.
That's when Unoriginal came to life. (side note: I got the body shape from a statue on google lol) It was a representation of the body that I once had. After I created the piece, it gave me some relief that I needed to let go. I painted a sexy body. So I continued to paint sexual bodies because they made me feel good. Huge shoutout to Eve in Eden (body shape by my family *wink*), Butterfly Dream, and Yin Yang (body shape also by that same family member).
Then I started to realize that the body that I was in, my body, was a sexy body. Just because the body had a baby and it looks DIFFERENT, doesn't make the body less sexy. So then I started to appreciate the change in my body and show that in my paintings as well. That's when I created Mirror Mirror because my body is the fairest of them all in my world.
And my Fiancé does a really good job with making me feel like my body is still the sh*t so I had to include a part of him in my work. Shout out to Moonlight and In Sync (neither body is based on us lol). Truth be told, it's really him always wanting me that made me look in the mirror and see why he wanted me. Like my babies gave me some big boobs and a booty for him to look at, of course he wants a part of me. I am a man's dream, the Key(anah) to his heart (;
But seriously, those bodies brought me back. Made me realize that no matter what I look like I am the sh*t because I am a woman. I am the sh*t because I am Keyanah. And one thing about me, I'm going to be me no matter what, who, how, why, when, and where. My parents have always taught me to do that and I wanted that all to be felt in my paintings.
I really hope that you guys feel it too!