"AFTER THE 13TH" STORY
“What Gathers in Silence”
The series “After the 13th” marks a breaking point and a return to self. I arrived in Canada on July 13, 2012, carrying one suitcase, a life folded into its smallest possible shape. Like many who cross into a new land, we began in suspension, between what had been and what had not yet formed. Priorities reshaped themselves overnight. Survival took the body, stability claimed the hands, responsibility rooted us to the ground. Art did not disappear, it transformed, receding inward, waiting patiently beneath the surface, gathering weight and meaning in silence.
When you arrive with one suitcase, simple things become complex. Identity is suspended. Language, belonging and certainty must be rebuilt piece by piece. During those thirteen years, I raised two amazing children, gave fully to motherhood and built a foundation where there was none before. Art lived alongside this life - scratched into moments, held internally, waiting.
After thirteen years, something changed.
This body of work emerges from the moment after devotion, when a woman who has given everything outward finally turns inward again. “After the 13th” is not about arrival, but about what remains once the urgency softens - the emotional residue of immigration, the endurance it demands, the quiet strength it forges. The paintings carry memory, restraint, connection and recognition, not as narrative scenes, but as felt atmospheres.
I create from the heart, informed by time, displacement, motherhood and lived emotional experience. These works invite the viewer to pause, to sense rather than analyze and to sit with the layered intensity beneath the surface. They are spaces where mood lingers, where resilience is held gently and where meaning reveals itself slowly - THE WAY IT DOES IN LIFE.
"AFTER THE 13TH" SERIE
CONVERGENCE
SHARED WEIGHT - mini
CONTEMPLATION
Medium: Oil on board
Size: 20 x 24 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“CONVERGENCE” explores the intersection of two consciousnesses within a shared moment. The interplay of blues suggests both distance and intimacy, highlighting the subtle emotional resonance between the figures. Part of the “After the 13th” series, it continues to investigate the lingering psychological echoes of personal encounters.
CONTEMPLATION
SHARED WEIGHT - mini
CONTEMPLATION
Medium: Oil on board
Size: 24 x 20 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“CONTEMPLATION” investigates an interior state following a moment of shift. As part of the “After the 13th” series, the work reflects on psychological residue - the quiet, reflective space that remains after an event has passed.
SHARED WEIGHT - mini
SHARED WEIGHT - mini
SHARED WEIGHT - mini
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 10 x 10 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“SHARED WEIGHT” examines the collective burden carried between figures in the aftermath of encounter. Muted greys layered with blue, red and brown create a restrained emotional field, from which the figures emerge with heightened solidity and presence. Their boldness suggests not separation, but accumulation - the quiet pressure of experience held in common.
SHARED WEIGHT
SHARED WEIGHT
SHARED WEIGHT - mini
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 24 x 30 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“SHARED WEIGHT” - this larger work functions as a more fully explored extension of the mini painting, examines the collective burden carried between figures in the aftermath of encounter. Muted greys layered with blue, red and brown create a restrained emotional field, from which the figures emerge with heightened solidity and presence. Their boldness suggests not separation, but accumulation - the quiet pressure of experience held in common.
SIDE BY SIDE
SHARED WEIGHT
SIDE BY SIDE
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 20 x 16 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
"SIDE BY SIDE” presents two figures moving forward within a deep red field, emphasizing shared motion rather than destination. The woman’s blue dress introduces a stabilizing counterpoint to the surrounding intensity, suggesting trust, calm and continuity within an emotionally charged space. The figures remain distinct yet aligned, reflecting partnership as parallel presence - walking through life together without loss of individuality. The work speaks to what follows recognition - the enduring strength found in choosing to move forward alongside the right person.
EMERGENCE
SHARED WEIGHT
SIDE BY SIDE
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 48 x 20 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“EMERGENCE” captures the presence of an individual asserting themselves within a space of tension and contrast. The red figure set against a green background creates a dynamic dialogue of energy and emotion, emphasizing vitality, isolation and resilience.
GREENER
GREENER
GREENER
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 48 x 20 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“GREENER” unfolds across a vivid green field, where four figures occupy a shared space of comparison and quiet tension. Three move in visual alignment, drawn toward a perceived promise, while one remains set apart - not in opposition, but in observation. Passages of yellow punctuate the surface, heightening the sense of allure and artificial brightness, as if desire itself has been lit for emphasis. The work reflects a familiar impulse, the tendency to measure one’s position against others, to believe fulfillment lies just beyond where we stand. The observing figure introduces pause, suggesting awareness within the momentum of imitation, a moment of seeing before following. Rather than offering judgment, the painting holds the question open: "what is truly gained by crossing toward what only appears greener?"
ECHO
GREENER
GREENER
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 10 x 10 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“ECHO” exists in the space where form begins to repeat itself. This secondary shade does not trail behind, but lingers alongside, a trace of what has been felt, remembered and carried forward. Soft touches of white lift the surface, creating brief openings of light within the density of experience. The work reflects a state in which identity is not singular, but shaped by reverberation, the self as something formed through contact, repetition and time.
FAULT
GREENER
FAULT
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 10 x 10 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“FAULT” - What divides also makes visible.
QUIET
REMAIN
FAULT
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 16 x 12 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“QUIET” - Resting behind the surface, she inhabits a moment where striving has ended and breath returns to itself. The painting holds the tenderness of arrival without spectacle, a calm intimacy where nothing is asked, nothing explained. It speaks to the beauty of becoming still, of being felt rather than seen and of peace found not in distance, but in closeness.
REMAIN
REMAIN
REMAIN
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 10 x 10 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“REMAIN” - What stays is not singular.
TWELVE
REMAIN
REMAIN
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 12 x 12 in
Style: Abstract figurative, impasto
“TWELVE” is a place of waiting. In this work, yellow becomes both presence and pressure, illuminating the distance between what has been completed and what has yet to arrive. The series holds steady here, suspended in light.