Held

Oil, Pastel and Texture Medium on Canvas
95 × 70 cm

Held draws inspiration from the philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson’s The Over- Soul (1841), in which he writes of “that great nature in which we rest as the earth lies in the soft arms of the atmosphere.” Emerson describes a universal soul to which every part of existence is intimately connected: “the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal ONE.”

His words are fragmented and absorbed into soft layers of colour, becoming almost imperceptible, much like the invisible connections that bind us to the greater existence of which we are an integral part.

There is profound comfort in surrendering our sense of separateness and recognising that we do not stand apart from the universe, struggling to find our place within it. We have always belonged. We are part of something infinitely greater than ourselves.

And in the moments when life feels heaviest, we can allow ourselves to remember that we do not have to hold everything together.

We too, are held.