The painting series Light Pilots cultivates a new visual language by utilizing and rearranging representational symbols deeply rooted in my past. The conversation started in 2020 as I began to examine how to heal ancestral wounds, while also addressing lifelong questions surrounding identity. Grief can leave us feeling like we are emotionally drifting, unable to process reality. The pilots represented in these canvases are put into a similar place of nothingness, exuding this deep sense of emptiness. Floating in this airless space, they are frozen in motion, trying to move forward; a dichotomy integral to the human experience itself. The use of powerful light boldly contrasts the figures from the depths of their surroundings, celebrating the possibilities of breaking old cycles while creating new, positive paths. Interwoven into these scenes are paper airplanes that nod to childhood innocence and playful dreams. All of these narratives allude to an ongoing search for healthy growth.