LIFTED

Pen on Paper 2024 When I created this piece, I wasn’t just trying to draw a boy meditating. I was exploring what it means to let go. The boy floats above a rock, rooted in silence, but the most important detail is the flame rising from his neck—the point of separation. His head isn’t connected anymore. It’s drifting, softly, peacefully, above the body, ringed by light. That detachment isn’t meant to shock—it’s meant to free. ‎ ‎That flame represents a moment I’ve felt many times—the quiet fire that burns when we outgrow pain, release ego, or finally let go of control. It’s a moment of death, but also of rebirth. ‎ ‎I wanted the process itself to be meditative. Every stroke had to be deliberate. The textures in the rock, the flow of the clouds, the folds in the clothing—they all contrast with the stillness of the figure. That tension between the grounded and the ascended, between weight and release, is what Lifted is all about. ‎ ‎It’s more than an image. It’s a prayer in lines. A quiet cry. A gentle, personal offering to the idea that we can rise, not by force, but by letting go. ‎