In catholic tradition, pietà refers to the image of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus’ lifeless body on her lap or in her arms. In Epokaliss I reflect on how in the catholic narrative, sons are typically represented as characters for sacrifice or meant to follow preset destinies.

“Pietà” captures the final acceptance of loss, and instead of cradling a corpse, the character cradles their chest to self-soothe. I wouldn’t call this collection particularly uplifting, I would say it offers catharsis and no other piece focuses quite so much on this aspect as this one. This is the final self-portrait on the collection, but in no way is that to suggest that I’m done with grieving – perhaps it’s simply the top note in the octave of loss.