Story Unspoken

This series of nine paintings was inspired by the emotional journey from the passing of my father in 2023. They were a means to work through those unresolved difficult parts to find joy, healing, and growth. This process led me to Tonglen, thus inspiring the name of this series. Meaning "sending and taking," Tonglen is an ancient Buddhist practice meant to awaken compassion. As we inhale, we breathe in suffering, our own and that of all those experiencing the same; as we exhale, we breathe out relief.
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This practice calls us to invite in life exactly as it is, the suffering and the joy and the everything-in-between, to connect our personal experiences with those of all beings; to cultivate presence and radical acceptance, a place from which our wakeful work can begin; and to send healing energy out into the world.
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In relating our suffering, we can begin to see clearly that nothing is separate; we are radically interconnected and interdependent. Grief and love, too, are not separate; joy and sorrow are one and the same.
 
18 x 18 inches
Acrylic, ink, charcoal, collage, graphite on cradled birch wood
Wired and ready to hang
1-inch deep wood panel framed in a black wood float frame
Signed on front