To be known is to belong.

Part of The Comfort House Project: Stay as long as you like

This linocut reduction print represents a transitional space for Cynthia, from which she is about to leave and go do something fun outside.

During our conversation (over video call) we discussed how many of us seek to belong by conforming, or by becoming what is expected of us. Unfortunately, that belonging is conditional upon our maintenance of that performance. The ONLY way to really belong in a community is to let your true self be known. Cynthia shared vulnerably about how when she devoted herself to fulfilling others' expectations of her, it resulted in dark, cold, bus-stop crying jags. But when she began to follow her personal motivations she created a life, family, and community that she wouldn't trade for anything. She reminded both of us that joy and sorrow can cohabitate in one person/moment.

Once again I came up against the pattern that my protagonist seek comfort by being outside! I decided that in this room, I would imply that Cynthia was putting her boots on to join her husband and son on a skiing or mountain biking adventure. Her dogs, Diego and Frida, hover nearby (as dogs do when anyone is coming or going). The pattern sprawling across the image is an homage to an otomi wallpaper design that Cynthia calls her favourite wall in the house.