My Mind is Brilliant (2022)

Melanie Cervantes
12″ x 18″
5 layer screen print, Cougar 270gsm/100lb Digital Smooth archival paper, July 2022, San Leandro CA
Edition of 75

After a series of unfortunate events, starting with a cancer diagnosis on my 40th birthday, I spent time reflecting on the most painful and agonizing feelings I experienced during these difficult times. I came to realize that my suffering during these challenges is rooted in the traumatic events I lived as a child. This led me to think about the harms that young people from historically oppressed communities often endure in the most formative moments of our lives.

This series of prints emerges as a counterweight to the cruelty that kids endure on the daily and instead offers affirmation and celebration.

In this piece a young Black child joyfully declares “My mind is brilliant” learning at an early age to speak kindly to themselves.