Candice Licalzi

I’ve always been infatuated with the arts, as a child I knew my purpose was to learn and create. But I didn’t become aware of myself until I started college, college is where my body changed and expressed itself to the fullest degree in the form of a seizure disorder. My brain finally opened up, it showed and made me feel things I never felt or saw before. It started speaking to me with sensory sensations and symbolic images. For the first time I felt the separation of my earthly body and God given soul, with that also came images of my feelings that I could never express, in which my body represented them as insects, each species symbolizing feelings good and bad that I could never express through words even as a child. When this moment happened in my life at first I was embarrassed to express it to others, this was because many judged me for my disability to the point of being considered by others as mentally ill. But after a few years I was inspired by a Japanese artist by the name Yayoi Kusama, in a way I connected myself to her because she had some disabilities but chose to celebrate them through her art instead of hiding them. She inspired me to do the same and from there on I created a brand new body of work and finally discovered my very own unique artistic license that I’m proud of more then anything. I expressed myself through my art the same way my mind, body and soul expressed to me in the year of 2011. Each piece I create represents the flaws in my life that are transformed into beautiful pieces; it’s a gigantic storybook of my life that will keep on going till the day I die. But most importantly for the first time I can finally express the feelings I kept bottled up inside me for so many years and every time I finish a piece that demon inside me is locked away in a canvas forever never to bother me again. Each piece that’s completed brings me more peace of mind, with that I grow happier and stronger. After finding my niche all I wanted to do was express the idea of celebrating your flaws and to never be embarrassed by them. This is why not only have I chose to be an artist but also an art professor. To every student I come into contact with I tell them my story and express to them to never feel bad about yourself or be afraid to express what’s on your mind. People now in days have grown to accept the norm of hiding your mistakes and flaws from others, it makes me sad and I believe why people become more and more sick because most people have given up their filter to look better to others, we have forgotten that we are human.

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