About the Piece

Stop Your Heart explores the emotional toll of giving too much of yourself away—of knowing you’ve hit a limit but being unable to pull back. It illustrates the tension between logic and emotion: the mind, rational and self-preserving, saying “stop,” while the heart continues to pour out more than it can sustain. It’s about that internal war between knowing better and feeling too much.

The piece uses red and blue to echo the visuals of heart cycle diagrams, grounding the viewer in something anatomical and familiar. But instead of focusing on biology, the colors represent a dialogue: red as emotion, vulnerability, and passion; blue as thought, restraint, and detachment. The push and pull between them mirrors the back-and-forth conversations we have within ourselves when we’re stuck in cycles of emotional overextension.

Through collage, embroidery, and illustration, the work layers both internal and external influences. Fragmented imagery and stitched lines mirror how fractured we feel when stretched too thin. These elements are woven together to show how even when the mind begs for rest, the heart doesn’t always listen—especially when it’s been trained to give.

Exhibition History

Exhibited in Connections: Senior Exhibition, Northern State University, Spring 2023.

Exhibited in tl;dr, hosted by Midwest Nice Art, August 2023