the story behind the fire inside [version 01, 02, 03]

version one

in the summer of 2024, i made this painting one day just for me. i didn’t spend a lot of time on it and i didn’t have a plan. i just started painting, adding one part at a time and a felt like i was led by a fire inside.

it felt a bit personal, so i held onto it and named it “fire inside.”

version two

in december 2024, i met this song, broken bow by john calvin abney. the whole song jumped at me but specifically this part:

“never seen a fire, like the one inside her; even when she’s tired she could melt sierra snow
and make the golden rod grow”

the song kinda felt like music to go with that painting above, so [impulsively] i bought handwritten lyrics of the song from the artist figuring i’d find something creative to do with it all.

a month or so later, i put the lyrics in a frame juxtaposed next to the canvas. moving without much a plan [like the first version], i updated the original painting a bit and fixed some parts i didn’t love. i didn’t know what i was going to do but i knew i wanted this version to feel even more bold.

version three (the final version)

in april 2025, i had just bought this small (about 11x14 in) wood frame from a thrift store and wasn’t sure what to do with it, but it felt like a good piece for a collage.

version two suddenly had less meaning than it did when i first made it——so i took it all apart, found a new frame for the precious handwritten lyrics on their own, and started recklessly [intentionally] cutting up the canvas art just enough so that it fit onto this wood frame.

i wanted it to look like a bit of a rough mess;
that’s what the fire inside looks like.

i glued all the canvas pieces down and then added random miscellaneous stuff [paint, oil pastel, ‘zine cut outs, construction paper cut outs, etc] to the canvas in a similar way as i did for the previous two versions——led by the fire inside. i just kept adding until i felt like it could tell a whole story without me saying anything.

This piece was sold in aug. 2025. I genuinely wasn’t expecting this piece to sell because it’s a bit wild but perhaps the fire inside knows best.