09/09/2026
«Tilbakeblikk»
40x40 cm
2026
Getting to know someone I never got to meet.
As someone living with chronic illness, being able to do the things you want to do is never taken for granted,
For me, endometriosis and ME can make it challenging to do what other can, even on a «good» day
But during a small period where I’ve been feeling a little better, I’ve chosen to spend the limited energy I have on something that means a lot to me:
Over the past few months, I’ve been painting a portrait of my fiancé together with his grandmother and grandfather — people I sadly never got the chance to meet before they passed away.
In a way, I feel like these past months have allowed me to get to know them a little.
Not through my own memories, but through the stories I’ve heard, and through the small details I’ve noticed while painting them.
The small physical features that tell something about a person and the life they lived.
Maybe it’s the smile.
The lines of worry.
Skin weathered by a life of working out at sea.
But most of all:
the love in their eyes.
That very particular kind of love you only find in grandparents.
The table set with food, where you can tell you’ve been fed far more than you could possibly eat before you leave.
The love found in all the homemade food.
The little details that might seem insignificant, but somehow tell you so much about who they were.
I’ve gotten to know them through other people’s memories.
And it has been such a beautiful and meaningful process.
Now the portrait is finished.
I hope it can become a small piece of them that gets to live on. 🤍
