Stepped Through

Stepped Through is a deeply personal exploration of the delicate tension between endurance and rest, embodied through the juxtaposition of a saddle and a photograph of the artist lying on the ground. The saddle, a symbol of burden, control, and movement, represents the weight of ongoing resilience, the necessity of pushing forward through life's demands. Yet, this forward motion comes with a cost—the quiet, disenfranchised grief that is often overlooked or unspoken in the relentless pursuit of endurance.

The image of the artist laying on the ground serves as a counterbalance, a moment of vulnerability and surrender. It speaks to the importance of rest and the emotional toll that endurance exacts. This act of stillness becomes a powerful metaphor for the grief that accumulates in the shadows of strength, a grief that is often hidden or denied in the face of expectations to keep moving forward.

Through Stepped Through, I aim to illuminate the unseen emotional landscape that accompanies endurance—the grief that is felt but rarely acknowledged, and the critical need for balance between action and stillness, strength and surrender.