A GIRL NAMED SEATTLE

SEPTEMBER 6 - 27, 2024 | MAIN GALLERY

A Girl Named Seattle is meant to share my own experience having Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) with the hope of creating solidarity and understanding among viewers. The formal elements used throughout the show echo characteristics of BPD such as the relentless repetition of thought loops, the size and intense denseness of emotions, the multimedia flux of self-identity, the attempt of enclosed, finite containment of infinite, erratic, ever-moving parts, ultimately forcing perpetual forgetfulness and compartmentalization. Finally, it takes time and effort to read through the zine in order to learn more about the main character. By doing this the viewer can find resolve in her story is representative of the constant work it takes to live inside a body that operates among the symptoms of BPD.

BARBARA LANE THARAS

Barbara Lane Tharas (they/them) is an artist living and working in Emporia, Kansas. Tharas received their Bachelor of Fine Arts from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2016. They have exhibited nationally over the last eight years, including five solo exhibitions and numerous juried exhibitions. Tharas creates work that is motivated through sequences such as comics, animation, and printmaking. They use printmaking and comicing as a way to create work that utilizes humor to critique socially stigmatized bodies, mental health, and create an opportunity for solidarity. Laughter is a tool for overcoming shame, which is Tharas’ most significant motivation when creating art.