This piece examines the pain of losing it all and falling in love when you don’t yet love yourself.

A woman tears open her own chest to lay bare what she feels is left of her heart so she may give the pain away, or “take it all” away. “If I don’t want my heart, no one will”.

Wearing a crown and wings, symbolizing confidence, while the shroud she bares represents her feelings of shame, together they brew her emotional chaos.

A bleeding heart is suspended in mid air, exposed and vulnerable in the untidiness of this process. A lone dove rests upon the woman’s leg symbolizing the hope she still feels that everything will turn out alright, while the figure above blinds herself to the process.

“I needed to embrace my pain to start loving myself again and allowing someone else to love me”

– Carina Martins