Statement of Perspective

I remember the first time I painted a tiny landscape on a fake nail. I did it on impulse after scrolling through endless pictures of perfect manicures that never felt like me. Everything online looked glossy and polished, but almost none of it said anything real. I wanted to make something that felt personal, even if it was small. That is how this piece began.

While I worked on each nail, I kept thinking about how much pressure teenagers feel to present ourselves in a certain way. Our nails, our clothes, our rooms, our social media pages are supposed to say who we are. It gets overwhelming because it feels like we are expected to stay inside the lines someone else drew. Creating these landscapes gave me a chance to break away from that. They reminded me that beauty can be quiet and that expression does not always have to be loud or trendy to matter.

Painting mountains and fields on such tiny surfaces made me pay attention to things I usually rush past. I noticed how colors blend, how shadows fall, how small details can change the whole mood of a scene. It felt calming, almost like shrinking the world down to a size I could hold.

The funny thing is that these little nails made me feel bigger inside. They helped me see that I can create my own version of what is considered pretty or meaningful. I do not have to copy what everyone else is doing.

“Landscape?” is my way of asking myself a question I am still figuring out. How much of what I show to the world is mine, and how much is pressure I absorbed without thinking? Working on this piece reminded me that even the tiniest space can become a place for honesty if I choose to make it one.