Worldly Glitch

Awarded: 2022’ Exhibition, 61st Annual Voertman Competition, Denton Texas

We are in the middle of a digital evolution that started with our parents and continues to emerge into the lives of future generations. It’s only natural for us and our interests to evolve along with the media that is presented to us daily. There’s been a debate on how subcultures cease to exist due to social platforms sharing a world of culture and styles, giving us a taste of the different lifestyles that are out there. Where we benefit from this is the ability to express ourselves through clothing, make-up, tattoos, etc., without oppression. My inspiration for this project originally came from ‘Punk Visual Art’. It was the mix of colors and collage formats that gave the art individuality but also had room for chaos. The more I worked on this project, the more I changed the collages to fit the personas in the image, as they’re meant to work both individually and cohesively. Though heavily modified, it is a way to implore the cyber-aesthetic we grew to recognize, even offline. As before, subcultures were a way to recognize someone who had similar interests. But with the digital access we have today, it is easy to consume numerous styles of music and art, leaving us to want more. As we advance with technology, we are more open to self-expression compared to the early years of the internet. It is only a matter of time to see what comes next.