Change was painted in response to witnessing my husband’s sudden transition from an able-bodied, fiercely independent man to someone navigating life through crutches and a wheelchair following a botched spinal surgery. The work reflects the emotional weight of that transformation — the grief, frustration, resilience, and quiet rebuilding that followed.
The fragmented reflections and distorted movement within the painting mirror the disorientation that comes when life changes without warning. The wheelchair appears both present and abstracted, suspended between identity and adaptation, while the water-like surface suggests instability, vulnerability, and the constant shifting of self-perception.
Painted in layers of acrylic and oil, the contrasting warm and cool tones speak to the collision between strength and loss, dignity and dependence, love and helplessness. Rather than focusing solely on physical limitation, Change explores the emotional landscape of transition — how identity is reshaped when the life once known is no longer possible.
This piece is deeply personal, but it also speaks to the universal experience of confronting unexpected change and learning to exist within a new reality.
