Flight/System

When familiar places feel different because you've chosen change

This painting is about a moment of transition. A time when a very familiar environment suddenly feels different because of a choice.

This painting began more than two years ago, at a point in life where I was struggling with burnout. The same long commute for four years, the same two TTC stations visited twice a day.

Then one day I made a decision. It happened quietly, more something that bubbled up from the back of my mind, my subconscious just letting me know what needed to happen rather than weighing pros and cons.

In the moment it was the same TTC station, but it felt different. It felt like a moment of transition.

A weight lifted, I accepted that I needed to make a drastic change.

It would be a little while before the decision showed outwardly to the world, but that subway station never felt the same way again.

The alternative to my current life was nebulous, an open sky with no clear paths, just endless possibilities. I felt scared, excited and relieved at the same time.

Others had done it before me, I knew they existed, I had seen them, I had proof it was possible, and that it could be done with kindness/humanity/empathy/heart.

This painting represents choosing to find an alternative to the status quo.

There are two worlds at play in this painting: the system, and flight.

The system is the late stage capitalism we live in, where it's considered ok to work people into illness and not accommodate those with disabilities because the boss can't easily tell what the disability is.

It's a structure that considers it ok to value money above all else.

It's a system that wants to use people like machines, then replace them with actual machines once those become cheaper.

It's a structure that says that you must conform to a specific norm and if you don't, too bad, deal with it.

The flight side of it is the nomads and modern hippies. Those that create businesses with ethics as a backbone. Dreamers, artists, filmmakers, and everyone that doesn't fit in, accepts their differences, and builds a life for themselves that actually nurtures their needs.

If this feeling resonates with you, can you imagine this artwork in your home, inspiring that feeling?