Lament for the Returning Heart was awarded the Lorenzo il Magnifico First Prize in Painting at the XV Florence Biennale in 2025. The painting was created for the year’s theme  “The Sublime Essence of Light and Darkness: Concepts of Dualism and Unity in Contemporary Art and Design.” The Lorenzo il Magnifico Prize is one of the principal awards of the Florence Biennale, a major international exhibition of contemporary art and design held in Florence, Italy. The award is named after Lorenzo de’ Medici (“Lorenzo the Magnificent”), whose patronage helped make Florence a centre of Renaissance culture.  

 

I paint a lot about love. Love in many forms. This painting in particular - romantic love and the challenging cycles one can go through when in relationship. This painting was created in the lead up to a relationship ending late in 2025, which you can read more about here in the description of the work Love’s Quandary. The artworks from this period of time were mostly influenced by an emotional landscape of change and transformation. 

 

Lament for the Returning Heart is a dramatic piece. Within the three panels can be found areas of both peace and chaos, a cyclical narrative that leads the gaze around the painting. Relationships are where we find ourselves subject to the highest and lowest degrees of emotion, and oftentimes what happens within our relationships impacts all other areas of life. There will be moments of quiet love and those that are challenging, and it’s within this space of suffering that lies a choice to return to one another in unity. The return to love.