Named after the principle in Dante's Inferno that a punishment should mirror the sin, CONTRAPASSO reimagines that idea as an internal struggle. Rather than depicting divine judgment, the work examines the ways shame, grief, fear, and self-doubt can become self-perpetuating forces that shape how we move through the world.

Created during a period marked by personal loss, depression, uncertainty, and profound change, the painting confronts the narratives we construct about our own worth. It asks what happens when we internalize those stories for so long that they begin to feel inescapable—and whether transformation becomes possible once we challenge them.

Like many of the artist's double-sided works, CONTRAPASSO contains a hidden reverse side that expands upon the themes presented on the front. Together, the two surfaces suggest that every person contains visible and invisible histories, public identities and private struggles. Ultimately, the work is not a meditation on punishment, but on survival: the possibility of moving through suffering without allowing it to define who we become.

Acrylic, spray paint, oil pastel, heavy acrylic, graffiti marker, graffiti mop, solid paint stick, glow

in the dark pigment powder, resin on canvas (front and back).

40 x 30 inches