The Light Of You

Cardboard box, USB light, tracing paper photo print & medical packaging, 30 x 20 cm, Artist’s Collection

Last night you didn’t come again,
I was waiting patiently

When grief first strikes, negative emotions prevail, and by instinct you push them away to self-protect. While it provides temporary relief, the nature of grief is exactly like any mental illness that fully absorbs and controls the mind. When I opened my heart to grief in order to learn about it with curiosity, it showed me a light. Although my father is gone, the memory of him is guiding me through my life journey like a flashlight. His identity glows within me, and will continue to live in my future generations. The box is filled with medical packaging, showing the amount of prescription drugs he had been on while continuing to breathe—how much he had to consume to prolong his life. These are stored in the shoebox as a keepsake, always reminding about the past, and how it defines the present.