Warped Tour

12x12 Glitter/ Acrylic/ Resin/ Frame with Glass. 

Fifteen in the summertime with a ton of pomade in my bleached blonde hair with a few inches of black root outgrowth. The front of my hair was angled along my chin, glitter baby barrettes with the back spiked up way up. I only shopped at thrift stores - I especially loved maroon and baby blue t-shirts from the boys section. This day we all walked into the festival, not bothering with having water or sunscreen or comfortable shoes. Just spiked hair covered in pomade and a two inch thick velcro silver glitter choker around my neck, with my baby blue and maroon t shirt and rubber bracelets full of water and glitter. First we saw NOFX, standing on a giant rock way back in the crowd to be able to see them. That band was definitely my favorite hooded sweatshirt I had ever stolen from my then boyfriend. It was this horrible faded black with NOFX written in dripping neon green but so faded and busted it felt like the perfect home. My daughter's whole life I’ve been telling her about all of the dumb pop-punk bands we loved and listened to and what it felt like to be fifteen in the late 90s/ early 2000s, shortly before she was born. 

I was determined to be in the front row for Green Day at that show so before J5 was even cool I stood right at the front to watch their set. After them, Papa Roach played. This was the time in my life when I experienced what it would feel like to be crushed by a crowd. I had my stomach up to the bars in front of the stage. The crowd pushed forward so hard that eventually, my feet weren’t on the ground, but I wasn’t falling either. Much to my dumb teenager dismay, they had to pull me out of the crowd right before Green Day took the stage. I was livid for years that I had managed to stay in the front for that long, getting an indent of the bars on my stomach for weeks and everything - only to not be within reaching distance of Billie Jo Armstrong. 

Anyway, there are very few things I remember from this section of my life experience but this day is very intricate and specific. After the show the sun was setting and we all went to Denny’s - violently dehydrated, happy and sunburnt. This painting is a storm of that memory - of being a kid but feeling super grown-up, all wrapped up in it’s small little compartment - sparkling and undisturbed in her tiny silver lining.