Break Free (2026)
From The Stages of Becoming Series 
Watercolor on Paper Framed 20.5” x 28.4” 
 
Break Free
 
There comes a moment when transformation can no longer be contained.
 
An African American woman stands wrapped in translucent fabric, her body illuminated by a radiant light emerging from her heart. The shimmering material surrounds her like the remnants of a chrysalis—a final covering between who she has been and who she is becoming.
 
Break Free represents the moment of emergence from the inner work of transformation. She has surrendered what could no longer remain, released what was holding her back, and walked through the darkness of the unknown. Now, something within her has awakened.
 
The light begins at her heart because true transformation is not simply an external change. It is an awakening from within—a recognition of something essential that was always there, waiting to be revealed.
 
The translucent fabric symbolizes the fragile boundary between the old self and the emerging self. It catches the light as if transformation itself is radiating through her.
 
Like the butterfly breaking through the chrysalis, she is no longer willing to remain confined by the limitations, identities, fears, or stories that once defined her.
 
Break Free is the moment of liberation.
 
Not becoming someone else, but finally allowing the person who has been within you all along to emerge.
 
The transformation has become visible.
 
She is breaking free.