What They Needed Me to Be

Archival pigment print derived from hand-drawn sketches and experimental relief printmaking processes,, 16x20, 2026

This piece explores the quiet exhaustion of becoming who others needed in order to belong. It reflects the many roles, expectations, and performances we inherit, and the longing to discover who remains underneath them.

My work explores the human condition through layered visual storytelling rooted in personal and social realities. Through symbolic imagery, tactile textures, and hybrid processes, I examine identity, grief, gender dynamics, emotional inheritance, and collective behavior. Influenced by relief printmaking traditions, political poster aesthetics, photography, and analog mark-making, I combine hand-drawn imagery, physical textures, and digital refinement to create work that balances vulnerability and resistance.

Jennifer Arlem Molina is a Seattle based interdisciplinary visual artist working across photography, mixed media, and hybrid print-based processes. Her work explores identity, memory, social behavior, and emotional resilience through symbolic imagery and layered visual storytelling. Influenced by political poster aesthetics and relief printmaking traditions, Molina combines hand-drawn imagery, analog mark-making, and digital refinement to create emotionally charged work rooted in reflection and connection.