Ways We Attach is a four-panel plaster series exploring the relationship between movement, texture, and the four primary attachment styles: secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized. Inspired by attachment theory and the work of psychologist John Bowlby, the series translates psychological patterns into physical forms, using the movement of plaster to communicate emotions that can be difficult to visualize.

Each panel uses a distinct texture and composition to represent an attachment style. Secure attachment is expressed through cohesive, flowing lines that suggest comfort and stability. Anxious attachment features a large absence of plaster at its center, representing feelings of incompleteness and fear of abandonment. Avoidant attachment uses opposing structures that visually push away from one another, reflecting distance and resistance to connection. Disorganized attachment combines smooth and chaotic textures in a checkerboard pattern, representing the conflict between craving connection and fearing it.

The pieces were created by applying and manipulating plaster directly onto four identical canvases. Because plaster changes quickly as it dries, the process required each panel to be created intuitively within a limited window of time. This unpredictability became an important part of the work, allowing the physical behavior of the material itself to reinforce ideas of emotion, movement, connection, and separation.

Ways We Attach challenged me to begin with research rather than assign meaning after creation, translating psychological concepts into a visual language through texture and form.