Sierra Guard

BFA Photography

Website: www.sierraguard.com
Instagram: @ssg.photo

ARTIST STATEMENT: The Head & The Heart depicts a journey of the self; the relationships with our own beings as we grow and bring ourselves forward. It is a narrative of confinement and seeking release. The two subjects photographed are parallel sides of each other with the book functioning as a guide to the subjects’ inner turmoil. It observes the tension between the psyche and the physical self through a conversation between the two.

The work reflects my struggles in the process of finding an answer between where I am and where I am trying to be. There is an absence of what I need to grow, and I am left searching for how to progress onward; trying to create the answer within myself. This is illustrated through the relationship dynamics of the subjects: one is supportive, and the other is in need, though the roles may blur of who is helping who in each scenario.

In The Head & The Heart, the subjects’ journey mirrors the universal battle of self-directed lives; the splitting of one's being that must be reworked and understood to be made anew. Navigating the tension between the sides while finding resolution in the process and, in turn, arriving at a brighter destination.