Bethany Wilson


My work examines the development of memories and their deterioration over time and circumstances. I reconstruct my own memories with graphite through illustration, exploring the effects of stress, comfort, and anxiety on remembrance and recollection.

In my current series of drawings, I portray ordinary scenes of everyday life from the past year. Each of the illustrations are drawn from memory with varying degrees of detail. Over the past year, as I have encountered new levels of anxiety and different mental and emotional phenomena, I have noticed that my ability to recall and recreate memories has also deteriorated. The drawings reflect inconsistent levels of mental control and clarity. They are a direct product of the mind’s ability to retrieve visual information. Impacted by external stimuli and psychological stress, some of the drawings are missing information or lack a certain degree of detail, while others are more intricate and precise.

This work explores the direct effect of my cognitive condition on my ability to accurately recall and render visual information. As I depict my own mental images, I become more aware of my psychological state. The details are lost in between.



Movie Night
9” x 12”
Graphite on paper

Water Glass
9” x 6”
Graphite on paper



Solitaire
9” x 12”
Graphite on paper


Treatment
9” x 6”
Graphite on paper


BIO
Bethany Wilson is a Los Angeles-based artist currently working towards her BA in Art at Pepperdine University. She enjoys exploring different mediums, but works primarily as a painter. Her work explores non-linear narratives at the intersection of death and nostalgia.