At’ééd (Diné girl) stands directly before the viewer, surrounded by flowers and set against a familiar landscape of sandstone and earth. Dressed in black crushed velvet, her figure feels both grounded and in transition.

The soft, blurred paint strokes the idea of phasing - the uncertain space between childhood and becoming. The flowers obscure her face, suggesting growth, identity, and the ways a young person can begin to change before they fully understand who they are becoming.

The tall rocky Navajo land draws from the environment I grew up around, as well as the landscape surrounding where my nieces lived. It becomes a quiet connection between generations: the land remaining familiar while the people within it continue to change.

This work was my first exploration of both the medium and the concept of phasing. Its abstraction and softness became part of the work itself - capturing a moment that feels unfinished, fleeting, and still becoming.