Radiance

Radiance is the newest addition to my Joy of Living series.

As I have noted previously, The Joy of Living Series is not about having happiness devoid of troubles, challenges or hard issues. It’s about resilience. It’s an expression of finding the little, fleeting joys of everyday life and capturing them so our lives will have meaning and beauty.

As a result, in order to express what I think about radiating joy even in the midst of trouble, I’ll like to quote a New York Times bestselling author who experienced a lot of pain and trauma as a child-soldier in the civil war in Sierra Leone. Yet in the midst of all the tragedy he’s been through and his unique life experiences, he’s able to say this:

We all find joy and radiance and a reason to move on even in the most dire of circumstances. Even in chaos and madness, there’s still a beauty that comes from just the vibrancy of another human spirit.

Ishmael Beah

The Concept Behind The Work

This body of my work is about beauty and joy. And it’s about resilience. I think that the quote above sums up this particular piece so very well. If you will remember, I started this series (The Joy of Living series) during the pandemic when there was so much loss of lives around us that it was dark and gloomy. The future was uncertain. Each day was precious as it should be. But even more so due to the dire circumstances we found ourselves in.

However, like Ishmael Beah said, we all found joy and radiance and a reason to move on even in the midst of the pandemic. Simply being alive was a reason to move on. We tried to make meaning of life. Maybe cherish it a little more and love harder on our dearest ones.

Subsequently, this piece is carefully designed to show the radiance of an imaginary sun surrounding an intricately threaded hairstyle. As the subject smiles so beautifully, she exudes the radiance of the sun and brings light to whichever space she finds herself in. The sun will always shine even after the darkest clouds have passed.

Radiance

Finally, some questions? How do we find beauty in the difficult seasons of life? Is there joy even in the most difficult situations – war, pandemic, grief, loss? Can we bounce back from the toughest of circumstances? Can you smile again after pain? What are your personal thoughts?

Warmest,