This portrait was conjured from a journey, in which I found myself walking alone, engulfed in complete darkness.

All around me I could hear people shouting, agitated, running as if under attack. It was a scene shot through with grief and fear, until amidst the crashing noise, a tiny point of light appeared and seemed to hover just above my hand. I watched myself, as if outside of my body, walk towards other people and families offering tiny spores of light taken from the one I held.

Although the darkness remained, these pinpricks of light that danced throughout the space were somehow enough to dispel the fear, and I awoke feeling the urge to somehow capture this in paint.

My sitter, Blanche, is a dear friend and a captivating musician whose songs and voice transport me to a place of connection, hope and homecoming. Among the people I could have asked to model for me, it felt right that she should be the one to both embody and carry the light in the well of shadows.