Welcome
Hello and welcome! This space and little slice of the digital world is where I share my thoughts and creative endeavors. Much of my life's work to date has focused on achieving full self-expression, exploring and embracing all aspects of myself and sharing that wisdom and joy with clients to help them achieve personal and professional fulfillment.
Throughout my life, I've consistently embraced the role of a multimedia artist, blending various forms of expression such as performance, writing, cinema, image creation, design, music, and more into my work and daily routines. Through these practices and engagement with other artists work, I have discovered the connections, freedom and healing that shapes my perspective and passions in life.
In this post, I am introducing myself and shedding some light on my approach and background in style as art, life as artistic practice. I love style because it’s so practical and personal, it’s a medium most people engage with everyday. A medium through which a wealth of information is communicated to ourselves and those around us. In my own life I have come to find this process as a daily ritual of reflection and adornment, responding to my moods, current musings and inspirations.
The following is more about me and my personal story. A perfectly imperfect recollection of my journey to style as a primary medium for healing and artistic expression. While this story has a happy ending, the shadow worlds I walked through to get here have been difficult and include mentions of abuse, addiction and mental health struggles. If that content is not for you, you can find out more about my overall philosophy, professional and educational backgrounds on my About Me page.
Those who know me and people when they meet me often use words like bold, fabulous, powerful, confident, stylish, brave, complex etc to describe my vibe (IYKYK!). I completely love and accept all these compliments because inside I know that they are hard won parts of myself returned through a long process of healing.
As a kid I felt the opposite of all that, navigating chaotic and abusive individuals and systems outside of my control I felt powerless and self hating. By the time I was 21 I had (aprx) attended 12 schools, lived in 20 apartments across 7 cities and 5 states. I come from divorced mixed class WASP and white redneck alt-right Christian nationalism where authentic self expression was not encouraged nor did it feel possible. I dealt with intense bullying and ostracisation in school for being queer, poor, and generally different from kids my age. I dropped out of school after 8th grade and moved out on my own when I was 16. I spent most of these younger years trying to self destruct and numb the pain of the abuse and complex trauma I was experiencing with substances and other self harming behaviors.
In this time, style was not something I found empowering or solace in. If anything, I wanted to disappear and be as invisible as possible. I hated my body, I felt it made me a target and vulnerable. I hated most people and felt isolated in my misery. I did find solace in writing and was deeply enmeshed in music, cinema and photography, finding escape and outlets in creative spaces that brought me outside my physical reality.
When I was 16, I had a spiritual ah-ha moment. I had gotten out of rehab and felt like I was starting life from the very beginning. Looking to understand who I was and gain some basic life skills, I began to explore all kinds of things - food, activities, relationships, clothing. I wanted to experience so much that I hadn’t in life until then. I felt embarrassed at times for not knowing simple things or being clueless, but I kept exploring for many years, until I began to shape a more solid sense of self.
I still remember the first pair of heels I wore outside the house in my twenties. I had kept them for years and never worn them, seeing them in my closet, trying them on but feeling that I “could never do that”. It felt thrilling, dangerous even, and gorgeous. I was so excited! lol It’s cute to remember it now and how nervous I was. How scared I was. How brave I felt. How I can still feel that.
The freedom I gained from allowing myself to try new things small and big, to be fearful and do it anyway, helped me gain confidence and opened in me a flood of creativity and passion for possibility. I could feel a tangible shift in the way I carried myself. It was a fabulous external expression of a massive internal shift.
Coupled with a growing education about systemic inequalities and community movements rooted in BIPOC and LGBTQI2S+ wisdom that involves freedom, accountability, joy and art I saw a new vision for myself and found belonging in a new imagining for the world.
In my experience everyone’s yearning for self in expression and embodiment come from different places; expanding joy and self-love, healing old wounds, going through transformations or major life pivots, and oh so much more. It is my life’s passion to be the cheerleader, the mirror, the listener, and the guide to help people and their brands experiment, move beyond their comfort, and reflect their highest self.
While on the surface style can be the clothes we wear, and the industry has many many flaws, the way we adorn ourselves and care for ourselves and express ourselves has a powerful ripple effect within our lives and those around us. If you’re curious about your own journey or the story of your brand and want a creative to help craft the vision with intention and passion, then I hope we get to work together and make powerful moves.
Much love,
Parke
