Heart Failure Diptych: Two panels, each 60” x 44” · Total: 60” x 97” · Watercolour and ink on paper mounted to canvas · 2018–2023
In this large-scale diptych, the left panel portrays my adult daughter Isa, wrapped in thick red blankets that take the shape of my own heart—enfolding her in a father's enduring love and protection. She holds a skull, which has come to represent me: the unmasked self, stripped to truth, carrying the weight of paternal hope and longing.
Inscribed across the image: "My heart stands before me, Relief to hope, A thousand years of lost love."
The right panel completes the emotional landscape, born from years of layered pain, reflection, and eventual release. This work took over nine years to complete, a testament to the slow unfolding of grief, love, and rebirth.
Part of an ongoing exploration of family, vulnerability, identity, and the passage from darkness to optimism—raw, honest, and eternally hopeful.
Inquiries welcome for acquisition, studio view, or related works: blairaiken@raincage.com