The Story:

 

I was sitting in my closet—it was a big one—doing my makeup when I heard a crash. I didn’t even need to look; I knew my dog had broken the mirror. RIP Finn. When I stepped out, there it was: shards of glass scattered across the floor. Instead of anger, I felt clarity. In that moment I thought, now I have a canvas.

This piece came from a time when I was very awake. My dreams were vivid, my lucid dreaming effortless I was conscious both in wake and in dream, aware of myself and the things I could do. In dreams, if I wanted to fly, I flew. If I wanted to change the scenery, I could. But that power made me question where I truly belonged.

Reality felt heavy by comparison—unchangeable, rigid. I grew sad in wakefulness because I couldn’t bend it as I could my dreams. I found myself in a loop: thinking about dreams while awake, thinking about life while asleep. This painting is born from that in-between—an eye open to both worlds, knowing neither is wrong, but neither is the other.