Misleading Boxes is a digital graphite and watercolor artwork about labels, assumptions and identity. It explores our tendency to place people into neat categories, and how those categories can obscure the complexity of the person behind them.
We are all more complex, more beautiful and more unique than any box can contain.
- Digital graphite and watercolor
- W60 x H80 cm
- 2023
- Status: not for sale
Thoughts on Misleading Boxes
In a world that loves neat categories and simple labels, it’s easy to see how we can get caught up in boxing things—and people!—in ways that are often misleading. Society tends to put people into predefined categories, but those boxes rarely reflect the full truth of who we are. This personal experience led me to explore the idea more deeply.
The process of creating this piece was a personal journey of learning and discovery. I used internet tutorials to teach myself how to draw optical illusions, and then turned those techniques into my own interpretation. The boxes themselves were drawn using digital graphite, enhancing their stark, undefined nature. The stark, undefined boxes reflect how easily we misjudge people or make assumptions based solely on what we see on the surface.
I created “Misleading Boxes” to illustrate how we all categorize people and the hidden dangers that come with it. The work features neatly labeled boxes, but they are not completely what they seem.
The background was created with digital watercolor, symbolizing the softness that lies behind harsh judgments. Kind people, even if they unintentionally become judgmental.
The harm in these boxes is that they suppress individuality, expression, and the true identity of the person inside. For me, being labeled as disabled has felt limiting, as if that label alone could define my entire experience. But it doesn’t. And it shouldn’t. The world is more complex than these boxes, and “Misleading Boxes” mirrors this tension.
Ultimately, the message of “Misleading Boxes” is a simple one: do not assume. Don’t judge a person based on the label they’ve been given, and don’t let those labels suppress their full identity.
We are all more complex, beautiful, and unique than any box can contain.