“Will You Hold Me,” 48″x72″ is acrylic and 24k gold on canvas, from the series Touching & Other Illegal Things an abstract series in progress during COVID-19 stay at home orders. This piece is centered around the little things I miss more than I knew. I miss hugging my mother and grandmother. I miss walking with my best friend to a local coffee shop chatting right next to each other. I miss sitting at a winery and swapping stories with groups of friends. I miss getting a wave of information about someone, simply based on the firmness of their handshake and the temperature of their skin. I miss the information and little delights of catching a whiff of someone’s cologne or shampoo when coming in for a hug. I miss the visceral, the sensory. This piece illustrates those feelings. The longings, the aching, the sweetness, the subtle. This piece is a visual representation of all the the physical human comforts no longer available to us. This came into clarity when I was talking to a friend who lives alone and has no family nearby, nor any significant other in her life. Since shelter in place, she’s realized how much she relied on small touches to bring comfort throughout the day. Hugging a coworker, shaking a colleagues hand, a kiss shared with a date, a massage at a spa. All the touches add up. The void of their absence is palpable. Will You Hold Me Illustrates this longing. In a ghostly background with thunderstorms in the distance, figure orange, and figure blue cradle each other amidst the storm. “Will You Hold Me” 48”x72” is acrylic and 24k gold on canvas.