The Value of Failure

Elise Q.

• Artist Statement

  I believe in the value of failure—an understanding I earned on a pool deck when an outcome didn't go as planned. In that moment, I confronted not just my disappointment but the weight of my own perfectionism. That point in time flipped my perceptions on progress, effort, and self-expectation. Instead of looking at failure as an endpoint, I began to see it as the starting point to which growth is possible. Ultimately, this work grows out of the recognition that many teens struggle to deal with failure, but failure is not evidence of inadequacy, it is a catalyst for learning and reflection. I want to honor that process; even if my version of failure may not match with anyone else's, I want to show that it's an experience that is deeply personal, yet universally human.

• Creative Statement

  Many teens struggle to deal with failure, but failure is not evidence of inadequacy, it is a catalyst for learning and reflection. I want to honor the value of failure.