Lost Childhood was originally painted in response to my mom’s passing. During the pandemic I revived it, adding another layer of meaning: It is about trying to make sense of tragedy, trying to hold onto childhood memories to keep you grounded, and trying to pull the past forward to keep it current in some meaningful way.

During the pandemic, other tragedies were inflamed, including the hundreds of children still separated from their families at our border. What a cruel world those children have to grow up in, without the comfort of fond childhood memories to ground them, like I have to pull from in times of loss.

This painting also became about the children who have lost grandparents, parents, and more, to coronavirus, and the children who have gone hungry and suffered household crises during the shut down, and the children who have insecurities from changes in schooling and distance from friends. So now the painting is about all of this lost innocence.