Millennial Memories was inspired by a single physical photograph from my family’s archives: a candid image of my mother getting ready in our 90s-era bathroom. The image reveals a packed shelf stacked with towels and many, many hair products so familiar, you can almost smell them.

From afar, the painting reads as mostly blue with hints of pink, and these, combined with carefully considered shadows and highlights on my mom, create an intentional use of color that gives it that cool, nostalgic feel.

My mom, being the focus of the painting, is clearly depicted with realistic human features and proportions, but with a visible, painterly-like rendering that avoids it from being hyper-realistic. Similarly, the bottles and towels were painted with a focus on form and color rather than intricate detail. As such, it leans towards a semi-realistic style. The brushstrokes are soft and controlled, creating a balance between a polished image and a painterly feel.

This piece prompted deeper reflections on memory preservation in the digital age, where most images are curated, staged, and often stripped of visual context. Unlike today’s neutral, posed portraits, this moment of my mother, so unfiltered and grounded in a specific time and place, tells a fuller story.