Between Two Worlds

While in the throes of grief I sought to visually express what was so difficult for others to hear. I had suffered a traumatic loss. In addition to grief, I was experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which resulted in severe brain disfunction. My brain simply could not make sense of my new reality, I was unable to make cognitive connections or problem solve at even a base level. Feeling trapped and in a continual state of transition, I was caught between the life I once had and the one I hoped to live. ‘Between Two Worlds’ was created to visually express this experience, the devastating effects of grief and trauma. 

I wanted a way to depict that ambiguous void, the space that lacks clarity or form. As I worked through my creative process with limited abilities, I discovered a minimal color palette and layers of reflected light would illustrate the language of the subconscious. I developed a specific method of intertwining elements digitally to portray the depth of the emotional experience.

Grief and trauma affect nearly everyone, yet collectively we haven’t learned to tell the truth about our pain. My personal experience brought about a keen awareness. There is an acute lack of understanding, of how to support and help those in crisis in our society. Images from this series have been collected into a book of poetry and verse. I share my experience as well as my creative process as a means of companionship, offering confidence, conviction, and hope; a way to navigate painful traumatic events with understanding. ’Between Two Worlds,’ is intended to act as a catalyst for conversation, a prompt to tell our stories, to foster the courage to do so
in the face of what cannot be transformed.