Sheleia Brooks, Personal Statement of Motivation / Biography
As we know life is a journey. As we seek specific destinations, it’s the process along the way that shapes us into who we need to be for our destiny to be fulfilled.
My mother was a teen mom, about to turn 16 when she had me with one of her first serious relationships. The first born, 3 years later my brother Kenneth came and 7 years later my baby brother, Jaxon. Being the first born has a lot of challenges like being the guinea pig and having to learn big responsibilities at an early age. As in looking out for your siblings and helping your parents who are young and figuring it out themselves with you. Unfortunately, my dad was very abusive to us all in various ways individually and together. In the midst of cooking delicious dinners and masking it with charm and comedy around others. He had very harsh unresolved childhood trauma himself and becoming a dad at 17 was hard for him to grip with and rise to the occasion.
My childhood was filled with constantly moving around Maryland, having safe havens in family homes, churches, and museums in D.C. Plus fun escapes in Virginia to malls and parks. We call it the DMV back home, since all three states are so easily accessible to each other. For instance, my mother would work in Virginia but we lived 30 minutes away in Maryland. Church on Sundays, 20 min away in D.C. a simple drive down the street. While my younger self navigated living in fear at home and finding peace in the breaks of when my parents weren’t together. I always had a feeling I was meant for more. Meant to dream big! When I had breaks from my night terrors I had beautiful vivid dreams of me being an artist. Traveling and talking to many people I’ve never met before. My grandmother had me and my brothers involved in creative things at church like choir and theatre. The spirituality of Christianity is what grounded me and gave me hope to endure the hardships of my childhood.
The brain has an amazing ability to protect itself. I like to think that time has a way to reveal what is needed when ready as well. I believe 2020 was a hard-eye-opening year for us all in various forms. As a young adult I didn’t remember my childhood trauma until after completing my Art degree in Communications and Media Technology. I was back home, turning 27 and my spirit wanted me to know all of who I am. I look at that time as my spiritual awakening. That year I faced the hardest truth about my life, being sexually abused. How I felt like it marked me and made me extra vulnerable in the world that felt like it was already crumbling.
How I would finally stand strong for my younger self. I became very depressed and I sought help through therapy. My spirit felt the calling to explore my curiosity to paint as a way to deal with the pain.
I always have been attracted to abstract art. How the perception of it is mainly based on how each individual can see, feel, and relate to a piece in different ways. By simply being curious as to how certain shades of colors would look together, I started painting and couldn’t stop. Painting has been the most freeing form of creative expression for me. I also had my third eye open for other mediums like video editing, camera angles and writing for television. However, my painting projects are all motivated through exploring play with my inner child. My younger self is what drives me today. I believe she helped me survive. I remember feeling wiser beyond my years as a child. That God was real and the visions in my dreams he gave me would be fulfilled one day. That one day I would be strong and be able to fight for myself and my family to be free of the toxic cycle of my father being in and out of our lives.
Healing is not linear. However, painting and channeling my inner child’s strength, resiliency, and curiosity is what drives me every day. I live a life I envisioned for myself and every day I strive to keep my inner child proud. I live in a state where I feel aligned as a person and it gives me great connections as an artist. I am a part-time teaching artist at my favorite museum, the Museum of African Diaspora. Teaching children all over the Bay area how to identify art and explore their own creative talents. And as I explored the importance of my own mental health I work full time at a crisis clinic in San Francisco. I realized on my journey how art and mental health can compliment each other when it comes to recovery. I taught a paint pouring drug recovery class at another mental health job I had previously in 2022. I hope to continue that work when I can, with the organization I’m with now.
I feel like I am destined for great ventures in life through my creativity. I hope to connect with many people through my art and my story. I think we all deep down have a sad story, but it doesn’t define who we are. That we can overcome anything by exploring our passions, finding our joy along the journey.
