Amidst from April 12, 2021 to May 15, 2021 at The Stamp Gallery | University of Maryland, College Park | Written by Zainab Kazaure 

The process of growth after trauma is not linear. That is a lesson that runs through my mind time and time again in my own attempt to blossom as an individual. Alyssa Imes’ Post-Traumatic Growth, with its fabric and poured cast iron medium represents perfectly the imperfection that is growth and how it exists in different ways for everyone.

The various colored and sized piles of fabric that lay in front of a wall covered in poured cast iron pieces work to help us think of our own bigger picture. Like growth, there are many different parts, not, “smooth or stable,” but instead with, “peaks and valleys,” as the artist says. We see these peaks and valleys and contrasting textures in the work. The biggest similarity between it and growth is that all the different pieces come together in the end to make a beautiful bigger picture. 

Even though growth has many different parts, which can vary in appearance and nature, the ups and downs of it and our peaks and valleys are what makes us who we are. As we take the time to work through our trauma, as tedious as it can be, we are able to build ourselves up – putting the pieces of the story of who we are and who we hope to be together until we become as whole as Imes’ piece.

Alyssa Imes’ work is included in Amidst at The Stamp Gallery of the University of Maryland, College Park

For more information on Amidst and related events, visit https://stamp.umd.edu/stamp_gallery.