My grandma used to say that if nothing bad has happened to you, then you just haven't lived long enough. Everyone gets stuck sometimes, whether it's an addiction, illness, pain, poverty or something else. One theme that re-occurs in my work is the process of becoming free from the things that bind us. In "Rise," the grid on the bottom left represents any cage that keeps us grounded. In the right upper corner, the cage breaks apart to become something entirely new. Flight becomes possible with the inner purpose to begin. When we bury the old, new life can rise.