You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11(ESV)

I believe that death is not the end, but only the beginning.

A couple of weeks before doing this project, a coworker of mine who had cancer passed away. One Saturday, she was hospitalized yet able to form coherent sentences and understand conversation, but by that Thursday she was no longer verbal. By that next Saturday, we got the message that she had passed. Her sudden decline was intense and terrifying, forcing me to contemplate death and what I think and believe about it.

The woman who passed was Christian and for her funeral, she decided she wanted tons of flowers and bright colors—no one was allowed to wear black. She intended this because she wanted to let us know that death was not the end for her and that this was a celebration of her return home. That funeral was one of the most impactful funerals I have ever attended, and I think I will remember it until the day of my own.

For this project, I wanted to intentionally sit with this idea of Heaven, of persisting life. I decided to utilize colorful flowers to represent celebration and the continuation of life and had my model pose in different ways that represented someone who has embraced their return home. I had my model keep her face peaceful and at rest to signify someone who is no longer in turmoil.