From Sheol, 2023

The Hebrew word Sheol describes the shadowy underworld of the Old Testament—not a place of punishment, but the silent realm of the dead where memory, identity, and time seem suspended. From Sheol imagines what might emerge if something long buried found its way back into the world. The creature crossing this desolate plain is neither wholly beast nor spirit. Its rabbit-like body recalls vulnerability and instinct, while its skeletal beak suggests a scavenger of forgotten things. Above it, a grotesque mouth suspended from its tail follows like a living shadow, an unseen burden that cannot be escaped. The barren landscape, littered with leaning stakes resembling crude crosses or grave markers, becomes a threshold between worlds rather than a recognizable place.

Like much of my work, the image was not conceived as an illustration of a particular story. It arose through an intuitive process of discovery, with meaning revealing itself only after the painting had begun to take shape. The title came later, when the atmosphere suggested an ascent from the hidden depths of the psyche. In the language of Mythic Realism, Sheol becomes more than a biblical location—it is the symbolic underworld each person carries within. The creature that emerges from it may be fear, memory, forgotten instinct, or the strange wisdom that can only be found by descending into darkness. It does not arrive as a monster to be slain, but as a riddle demanding recognition.