2023
Oil and acrylic on canvas
66” x 12”

The desperate error
to bury sorrow
in a vacuum,
and leave it there.

The final of the four pieces in the ‘Poem’ series.

One of the worst side effects of grief is the pressure to just bury it deep inside of us, not letting be expressed or unearthed. Covering up any type of stress isn’t healthy, physically or mentally. That goes for grieving as well.

We need to break through the idea that grieving should be insular, should only be done privately, and should take no more than 2-5 business days.

This poem really is the central theme to the entire show. It’s my outward expression, finally, after so many years of pretending that I’m fine with everything I’ve been grieving. And it’s not just my mother’s death. But I’ll get more into that on the final piece in the show. There are ten more works to go through til we get there.