Melting Colors, Healing Wounds: My Neo-Expressionist Journey

In a world where emotions often go unheard, I’ve chosen to make mine loud through color, chaos, and raw honesty. My journey as an artist hasn’t been a straight path paved with inspiration. It’s been a labyrinth or a splatter of paint on the floor: twisted, messy, and deeply personal. Neo-expressionism became my compass, my outlet, and ultimately, my therapy. I am using this visual language not just to make a statement but to process what hurts and to connect with others who feel the same.

The Breaking Point

Grief doesn't arrive politely. It crashes through the door, uninvited and unrelenting. My descent into depression was tied to loss of love, of people I cared for, and of a sense of self. Heartbreak wasn’t just romantic, it was existential or a sense of purpose. The kind that tears at your foundation and demands to be rebuilt or reckoned with from the ground up.

In the middle of that darkness, I found paint. Or maybe, it found me. I stopped trying to create “pretty” pictures and started spilling myself onto the canvas. The Rage. The Sorrow. The Silence. The Desperation. All of it came out in dripping forms and fluorescent hues.

"Painted Thoughts" (2024) This was the beginning of my expression in the aftermath of a death in family. A realization that they will not come back and the family will never be what it was. This was my emotions over flowing or spilling over: Depression, Anger, Love and hopefully, Acceptance.

What is Neo-Expressionism & Why Does it Matter?

Neo-Expressionism arose in the late 1970s to early 1980s as an emotional reaction to earlier conceptual and minimal art. It brought back figurative painting, bold colors, and energetic gestural brushwork, concentrating on the human condition, personal trauma, and existential struggle.

The movement allowed artists to embrace being messy, personal, and loud. It focuses on presence rather than perfection or aesthetics. This art is meant to be felt rather than explained. For numerous artists, particularly those facing trauma, grief, or mental health challenges, it serves as a potent tool for healing and expressing truth.

 Prominent Neo-Expressionist Artists:

• Jean-Michel Basquiat – merged street and fine art with raw, poetic, political themes.

• Julian Schnabel – known for “plate paintings” and bold textures.

• Anselm Kiefer – explored German history, war, and mythology.

• Francesco Clemente – fused Eastern and Western spiritual themes.

Why Neo-Expressionism?

Neo-expressionism gave me permission. Permission to feel every single emotion that was on my mind and heart. To break the rules. To distort reality in a way that reflected how my insides felt: fragmented, melting, barely holding on.

The heavy blacks, clashing neon and pastels, and chaotic drips in my work are not accidents. They are the language of my soul trying to speak after trauma. I distort the human and animal form to reflect how loss distorts memory, how heartbreak warps perception. My subjects bleed, cry, scream, and melt. However, they survive despite of it all.

"The Vulture After The Doves Are Gone" (2025) Vultures are well-known for their scavenging lifestyle. I wanted to Illustrate the aftermath of a death (symbolic) contrasted with bright colors of hope and love. Almost like a testament of survival after a heartbreak.

The Visions I Create

Each artwork represents a version of myself that I wouldn't express in public. At times, this voice is defiant, while other times, it reveals a lost individual. These images are not about literal depiction but are psychological portraits.

My choice of colors challenges conventional mourning norms. I incorporate cyan, fuchsia, and electric yellow because grief isn't always somber. At times, it's intensely vivid, particularly when you're attempting to appear fine. Neo-expressionism enables me to address the paradox: lively imagery containing profound sorrow.

"Tears in the Spilled Dark" (2025) A honest look at a more intimate space and different look on grief.

From Breakdown to Breakthrough

Art evolved from being just a way of self-expression to becoming a tool for personal survival.

I started sharing my creations and thoughts as an alternative to self-destructive behaviors, not because they were perfect, but because they were genuine. To my surprise, people connected with them. They recognized their own struggles and losses in the chaos depicted through the distorted faces and fiery skies I painted. It was then that I understood healing can be a shared journey and that vulnerability is a source of strength.

"Safe Guard Ur Joy Pt. II" (2025} A Collaboration with Producer, Eric G. This was showing joy regardless of pain with the mixture of art and music

Still Melting, Still Making

I’m still navigating grief, depression, and heartbreak. They don’t leave you entirely. But I’ve made peace with their presence. I’ve turned them into paint and pixels, into something I can touch and transform.

Neo-expressionism didn’t just save me—it introduced me to myself. And through each new canvas, I continue to discover who that is.

To anyone drowning in their own silence: let it out. Loudly. Messily. Colorfully. Because in the chaos, you might just find your voice.