When the Roots Lead Back to the Heart

Created twenty-five years ago, this piece holds the beginning of my journey as an immigrant and an artist. The tree floats without soil, its roots exposed suspended between the place it left behind and the place where it is still learning to belong. Behind it, within the depth of blue, a human figure emerges with the subtle presence of a heart upon his chest.

Looking at it today, I realize that the work was already telling the story I am only now beginning to understand: perhaps roots do not always lead us back to a place. Sometimes, they lead us inward through memory, displacement, and everything we have carried until they return us to the heart.