Oil on Canvas | 24’20’1’

Inspired by someone passed away from an unintentional drug overdose.

This piece carries grief that my younger self struggled to make sense of. The pallet is intentionally light - soft washes of color echo the gentleness people often reach for when trying to make sense of loss. My older self recognizes that the reality of grief is far more complex.

Lilies rest in the background, a traditional symbol of mourning.

The painting itself remains unfinished... Having reworked the background periodically over the years, I always felt there was something I needed to correct about this piece. Recently, I’ve started to think it is best left this way.

In some ways the incompleteness mirrors the life that inspired it. In my opinion, anyone who loses their life to an overdose, is someone whose life was unfinished.

In hindsight, I imagine this loss had some influence over my early professional path, working as a therapist in the field of substance abuse.