Work in process

The Funicular

Two people stand at a threshold between what was and what might be.

Narrative

Inspired by a photograph taken during a period of profound uncertainty, The Funicular reflects on partnership, resilience, and the moments in life when the future remains unwritten. The painting portrays the artist and her husband at a time when a chapter of their lives was coming to an unexpected close. What would follow remained unknown.

The setting combines two places connected by a shared story. The architectural forms are inspired by the historic funicular station at El Conquistador Resort in Puerto Rico, a place that would later take on unexpected significance in the family’s life. The figures themselves are drawn from a photograph taken months earlier in Toronto, while standing at a crossroads and preparing for a period of significant transition.

The title serves as both location and metaphor. A funicular moves between elevations, carrying its passengers from one level to another while remaining firmly connected to its track. In much the same way, life often requires movement even as we search for stability. Opportunities emerge, plans evolve, and carefully imagined futures are reshaped by circumstances beyond our influence. Yet amid that motion, certain things remain constant: shared values, family, and the people who travel beside us.

Surrounding the figures, architectural structures provide order and direction while organic forms emerge through trees, foliage, and layered textures. Together they suggest the tension between what we attempt to build and what life ultimately becomes. The environment reflects both uncertainty and possibility, a landscape suspended between endings and beginnings.

At the center of the work stands a partnership. The painting is not about achievement or eventual outcomes. It is about the quieter act of moving forward together when answers are unavailable. It honors the support, trust, and shared responsibility required to carry a family through periods of transition.

Looking back, the figures in the painting do not yet know whether an opportunity lies ahead that will allow them to remain in the place they have come to call home. The viewer knows what they cannot: that the story is still unfolding.

Rather than documenting a decision, The Funicular preserves the uncertainty that preceded it. It is a portrait of two people standing between an ending and a beginning, seeking stability within a life defined by movement, and finding it not in a place, but in one another.

Materials

Status

In process

Medium

Oil on canvas

Size

4 ft by 5 ft