Inhale and exhale

We bathe in moonlight
Ambient and full of life
Inhale and exhale

This painting explores intimacy and connection. The reference is a candid photo of two friends of mine, caught casually in a moment of pure comfort.

I used to be known among my friends for being rigid and withholding of physical touch. They’d remark how I would sit on the couch next to them with uncomfortably straight posture, never letting my legs or arms rest against anybody else. I loved the ease with which my friends would hold hands, sit close, and give long hugs, but for years, I had an invisible boundary that wouldn’t allow me to do the same.

The painting is full of busy patterns and movement, but the figures are comfortably at rest. This is a moment between breaths, neither inhaling nor exhaling, but the smoke continues to flow from the lit cigarettes. Both figures look off into the distance, content and connected in this intimate moment.