Boundless horizons: Bandaids and Battles

This painting is about my inner child. She’s loud, wounded, and chaotic—painted with duct tape, bandaids, and broken crayons. Her eye sees everything, even when I pretend not to. Her mouth is full of questions, and her silence sometimes screams louder than words. She’s tired. So tired. She’s confused. Lost. But she’s still here. She never left me, not even when I abandoned her. She held my hand through the noise, through shame, through all the times I thought I had to be an adult. She watched the world tear pieces of me apart and yet whispered, “Let’s play.” Because playing was her protest. Her way of saying: I’m still alive.

This isn’t just a portrait. It’s a survival story. A love letter to the girl I used to be, who never gave up on me—even when I forgot she existed.