While this piece began as a study painting for me to try out new techniques, it ended up becoming one of my favorite works yet. Before I started this piece, I came across a passage in my Rumi oracle deck that mentioned an Arabic quote, "Da Tariki Tariqat," which translates in English to "Through the darkness, there is a path." I loved this, and it inspired me to create a painting that I could use it in. I felt as though it captured how I felt about life and the times I have found myself in darkness, feeling as though there was no path and no way out.

However, I have discovered that when we embrace the darkness and become present with it—and with the version of ourselves that can only be met in that space—that is when the path reveals itself. It is not a path to escape, but rather a path forward, where you are no longer afraid or lost, but transformed by a clarity that could only be discovered through moments of absolute isolation and darkness.

While the model I used for the painting is not me, I did take inspiration from my own tattoos: the cross over my sternum and the Old English tattoo across my abdomen. These tattoos represent my own path and the times I have walked through darkness, and they have become symbols of my journey forward.