In this contemporary narrative artwork, the artist explores the psychological duality between protection and peace. The work is centered a symbolic cardboard vessel; a conceptual of a Safe Space derived from childhood memories.
It explores the quiet, internal landscapes where one seeks refuge. The cardboard box serves as a sanctuary, a hideout rooted in childhood memory where the world feels distant and manageable. The artist depicts a hand resting on the threshold of this space, illustrating the tension of maintaining a private world while feeling the pull of the outside environment. It represents a hiding part of the subconscious ,a self defence for when the world becomes overwhelming, one seek to crawl into a box where it’s dark and quiet, It’s safe, even if it feels a bit cramped and lonely.
In contrast to the stillness of the box, the Koi is presented as a symbol of enduring peace. While the cardboard box represents a place of hiding, the fish represents the process of healing. It’s the healing part where the water isn't a wall, it’s a flow. The Koi isn't hiding, it’s just being. This is the soothing feeling. It’s water. Swimming through a soothing, deep blue palette, the Koi suggests a breakthrough into tranquility ; that restorative moment of surfacing from the depths. Ultimately, the piece depicts a metamorphosis of the journey of moving from the shadows of a guarded space into the light and calm of open water that soothes.
