This piece began with a photograph a friend shared of a hummingbird nest built inside a small square box.

I had already begun designing this piece before my mom passed away last fall. As I started constructing it, I thought about her and painted it using the colors she loved in her home.

While I was working on this piece, I also found the woman who gave birth to me. I learned her name, and a new relationship began.

My art is never about just one thing. Its meaning often unfolds over time, sometimes in ways I couldn’t have imagined when I began. Holding Space has become a piece about both loss and discovery, and the ways people shape our lives, whether they’ve been with us all along or are just finding their way back to us. There is space for everyone.

oil paint on panel, maple, latex paint • 34 x 34 x 2 in