During an intensive workshop with Antoine d’Agata in Arles in 2023, I began work on Stone Hearted. When I arrived at a place that reminded me of Kuyalʹnytsʹkyy Lyman in Ukraine, I found myself tracing the contours of my own pain. I returned three times—attempting to release a profound sense of loss tied to the people and places I once knew, and to grasp the fleeting sparks of old memories. Yet on my final visit, all I could manage was to erect a shield between myself and the unbearable heaviness of being.

Stone Hearted was shown as part of a group exhibition in Arles in 2023.