11"x 14"
Acrylic 
Canson Archival Paper
 
I put into this a dark memory. I had set out to recreate the events in paint but something unexpected happened. I actually painted Me. I painted who I was before, during and despite all of what would be. Light pink, lavender, fresh green and sky blue pushed through. I found that no matter how the blackness would try to cover and snuff it out, it was resilient and unrelenting, like light shining through the darkness.

This painting took that bad memory from me, and replaced it with something new, a propitiation of sorts. Today, thinking of the memory instantly leads me to think of the painting- I think of the process of painting, of how I felt and what I found when I painted it, and I think of how it evolved as I scraped back the blackness revealing the beauty preserved underneath, more vibrant still through the dark. I had recovered part of myself.