Paris R.

A Winged Becoming
Credit: Paris R.Artist Bio

Paris Richelieu (She/Her) is a Florida transplant with a love for sweet tea, warm beach days, Halloween season, and horror films. She also carries a deep appreciation for the power and resilience of alligators, qualities that shape both her life and creative process. Paris identifies as Black, while also honoring her Filipino and White Irish heritage, and these intersecting identities inform the richness of her worldview. She approaches therapeutic work through an antiracist, feminist, and existential lens that centers curiosity, justice, and embodied care. Influenced by Dr. Dave Gussak’s contributions to forensic art therapy, Paris has dedicated much of her graduate training to supporting individuals under Oregon’s PSRB during her practicum and internship. As the sole Black identifying member of her primary cohort and one of the first in Lewis and Clark’s art therapy program history, she has faced challenges that illuminate the ongoing realities of systemic inequity in academic spaces. Even so, her lived experience and ancestral guidance continue to ground her as she contributes to a growing path for future Black art therapists.

Artist Statement

This work draws from imagery that has followed me throughout my graduate experience. At the beginning of the program, my cohort was asked to build a nest and decorate eggs as symbols of care and community. As time passed, I began to revisit that moment and question what happens when the spaces meant to nurture do not hold everyone with the same tenderness. For students of color, particularly those who identify as Black within predominantly White institutions, the ideals of inclusion can feel uncertain, and the small fractures created by missed support quietly shape one’s experience. These subtle shifts mirror the realities many BIPOC individuals navigate in environments that were not originally built with them at the center.

Out of these reflections came the imagery that guides this piece. The fallen egg is both a memory and a metaphor: a reminder of what can be overlooked and an acknowledgment of the pain that accompanies that neglect. Yet it is also the beginning of something new. The butterfly emerging from the broken shell represents the strength I found within myself, the wisdom carried through my lineage, and the creative force that helped me move beyond the limitations around me. Its ascent speaks to growth that does not require returning to the place where the fracture occurred. Through this piece, I invite viewers to consider the quiet impact of environments that fail to offer true belonging, while also witnessing the transformation and clarity that arise when one chooses to claim their own becoming.