This concept is an intimate look at grief, ritual, and the cyclical nature of loss. At its core, it investigates the complex interior landscapes we carry, the beautiful mess of conflicting emotions and memories that, when unexpressed, feel like all the colors of our lives mixed together to black for a time.

Beneath these black surfaces is a hidden archaeology. The black is many layers of homemade black paint from charcoal burned from my dad's old wood and papers. Hidden under this sediment are secret underpaintings that will never be seen.

If the guardianship of a painting changes hands, the new owner is shown a single image of what lies hidden beneath the surface, on condition of a legally binding Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) promising never to reveal what they saw. This is a further exploration of frameworks to protect, hide and obscure that which is intimate, and a bridge to trust.

Presentation

The paintings are to be illuminated only by soft, focused light or torch light. These works are physical repositories of memory, crafted from homemade paint bound with the charcoal of a dead loved one's burned possessions.

Visitors are invited to do what is usually forbidden in a gallery: to touch the surfaces, feeling the physical texture of what remains when a life is reduced to ash.

In the adjacent room, the environment shifts from a private encounter with grief to a shared one. Lit solely by a central fire and flanked by simple wooden benches, the space mirrors the ancient architecture of the campfire. It is a sanctuary designed for collective contemplation, a quiet acknowledgment that while grief isolates us, the cycle of returning to the earth, of ashes, and of eventual renewal is an experience we all ultimately share.