When It Gets Dark, I Have Shallow Breath is an installation based work which unpacks and explores my experience with grief and healing following the traumatic death of my grandmother in 2018. I have been working through the experience of sitting with, and honoring my experiences however good or bad and approaching them as a welcome visitor as spoken about in Rumi’s poem titled The Guest House. This piece features a digitally created collage printed on fabric. There is dark blue velvet which hangs behind it as well as mirrors placed below. On top of the mirrors, I carefully placed stones, flowers and other natural objects in part, an offering. This piece has been professionally photographed so that the installation could be shown digitally. When It Gets Dark, I Have Shallow Breath (tears) is a revised version of the artwork used in the original installation. It has been edited to include additional imagery as well as photos of petals, florals and leaves. The image exists as a static image as well as a gif / mov file showing movement of water.

This piece has spurred a lot of thought and consideration around how we think and talk about death / dying, the traditions individuals have when mourning someone, speaking about mental health and having truthful and honest conversations with ourselves and others around emotions, loss and grief. Though this was created before COVID-19, I think these themes apply to what we collectively have been experiencing for over a year and a half.