Things have felt frozen lately, literally and figuratively. I think of climate as the backdrop for everything; culture changes so drastically with temperature. When I paint, heat is usually the point of origin for me. Things begin to grow under a warm light.

I think of all the places I’ve been and all the places I’ve left that reconstruct themselves in my mind. I put the same symbols in several different contexts throughout my work to mimic a daydream that changes a little each time you retell it.

My core symbol has always been the hibiscus. It’s the flower I grew up with, it’s native to my first home, and it has always felt like the flagbearer for sun-drenched weather.

A while ago, I painted a web of blue hibiscus on the winter coat I wore for years after I first left my hometown. The coat survived so much with me and cocooned me through the turbulent transition into adulthood.

This month, I travelled from my warm-ish home to a frigid place for work. I needed to finalize something, and this trip was the first and last step in me doing so. I didn’t feel particularly strong through the process, but I got to wear my coat again and felt like it was protecting me. The hibiscus on the coat resembled snowflakes and connected the past and present on my body.