‘Just the Right Amount of Chaos’
2023/2024
Acrylic on Canvas
1200mm x 900mm
‘Just the Right Amount of Chaos’ takes its name from Tervo’s fiancé’s loving description of his personality. Feeling defined by, yet embarrassed of, his Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnosis, Tervo reveals the shame he feels for his illness. Formed by the graffiti mark-making and sense of destruction that once fueled his graffiti and satiated his inner-demons, Tervo has used bold, acrylic on canvas to replicate his internal screaming. Painted as both his internal and external self, this self-portrait is a deeply personal expression of the complex lenses through which he views himself. Unable to tell where one figure ends and the other begins, Tervo uses his recurring motif of hands to explore where his illness ends, and he begins.