NOTE TO SELF is a visual love letter to the conscious and subconscious.

You can find the collection at www.Foundation.app/MartinTadashi

We see light as a place of goodness ... and in darkness, we detach ourselves from questioning what isn’t good, revealing parts within which are unfamiliar to us. What we collectively experience in the end, is the darkness pulling us deeper into conflict within ourselves. Through my body of work, I continue to explore the constant tension between the true beauty of darkness and the flawed purity of light.

... and in darkness, there is color.

NOTE TO SELF: SPECTRUM

EDITION 1
As a gay man who spent my young adult life in the proverbial closet, it has put me in a place in which I could not see clearly — from sharp objects I touched in complete darkness, wounds seeped through my body without realization. For decades, I tried to find the cold metal door handle that would be locked from the outside.
This genesis piece will include a handwritten poem to accompany the art, mailed to the highest bidder/collector.
Read more about “SPECTRUM” HERE

NOTE TO SELF: ENMESHMENT

EDITION 1
Deeply-rooted within the fabric of society, queer people have paved the way for our generation to live our truths. Some have lived audaciously, while others stayed hidden.
This image represents the entanglement of people from all walks of the gender spectrum.

NOTE TO SELF: IMMERSION

EDITION 1
Within the depths of darkness, we as queer people have been conditioned not to disrupt the communities of our upbringing. In moments of isolation, our true identities are hidden in plain sight.
This image is an embodiment of our search for light while surrounded in unrecognizable shadows.

NOTE TO SELF: REVELRY

EDITION 1
In times of displacement, we miss to acknowledge the moments of pause, introspection and gratitude - to pause and see the world around us, to realize we are worthy, and when we are brought together by loved ones, specifically our "chosen families", gratitude that we have found those who speak our language. Only then, we fully become our true selves.
This image was taken in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on one summer's day.