Chosen Hugs

Medium:
Reused Fabric, Thread, Dried Flowers, Marker, Poetry, & Embroidery on Wood Light Box

​

Dimensions:
33" x 22" x 2.25"

​

Artwork for Sale:
Yes

​

Year Completed:
2025

​

Description:

Chosen Hugs portrays my neighbor and chosen family member, John — someone whose presence has been a light through some of my profound grief. Over the few years, John has shown me that strength can exist within softness, that being fragile can also mean healing. In moments of panic and darkness, he has offered consistency and a deep, grounding breath, reminding me that going through strife doesn’t have to happen alone.

This illuminated portrait captures the way John’s hugs have become a safe space — a moment where light returns, even in the heaviest of times. The work is built on a light box, allowing a soft, glowing radiance to shine through the fabric and create an atmosphere of warmth, love, and happiness. Bright fabrics reflect his gentle energy, while tangled threads, dried flowers, and ink marks within his beard allude to the layered complexities of masculinity and the quiet strength found in tenderness. Torn pages from my poetry books, veiled with black tulle, speak to the grief I’ve carried, while the embroidered word HUG anchors the composition as a symbol of comfort freely given.

Through painting, textiles, and light, Chosen Hugs explores illumination as both medium and metaphor — the glow of connection, the safety of chosen family, and the healing warmth that allows us to move through darkness together.