My current body of work, In the Quiet, I Found Myself, continues my exploration of presence through the human figure. My practice has become an outlet where the phantom presence of the unspoken quietly emerges. While my own body often serves as a point of departure, the work has shifted beyond self-portraiture toward a broader engagement with the human condition. Rather than functioning as autobiography, I use the figure to express internal states. I work in oil on large-scale canvases, using self-generated photographic references and sketches to develop pose and composition. The figure is often placed within undefined spaces, surrounded by areas of negative space that heighten stillness and tension. This space becomes essential in articulating the figure’s internal condition, where subtle gestures such as a turned back, interlaced fingers, a collapsing torso, or a kneeling posture communicate through restraint and physical compression rather than dramatic action.

My use of color has evolved from an earlier monochromatic approach toward more complex and intentional palettes. Color no longer serves realism; instead, it creates tension and intensity within the composition. Saturated tones interact with muted ones, producing a visual push and pull. In some works, warmth concentrates in the torso while the surrounding body recedes into cooler, desaturated hues, suggesting distance or fading presence. Color functions as a structural element within the painting, reinforcing atmosphere rather than describing external reality.

Ultimately, this work reflects my ongoing investigation into how emotion inhabits the body, shaping posture, occupying space, and emerging through stillness. By limiting narrative specificity, I create paintings that exist in a suspended state where ambiguity invites projection. Rather than depicting a specific individual or event, the work opens a shared space where viewers can connect with their own internal experiences. In the Quiet, I Found Myself is not about resolution, but about awareness and the internal spaces that emerge when silence becomes visible.