Sierra Orosco
Trance 2024
Oil on Canvas
20x20x1 inches
$800
This work was inspired by a period of isolation and uncertainty during the Covid lockdown, a time when I was nearing the end of my undergraduate studies and unsure of what lay ahead. I felt emotionally and spiritually drained, caught in a kind of trance searching for clarity that never fully came. That feeling of being consumed by something unknown, but deeply felt. This feeling became the core of this piece.
In Trance I painted multiple versions of myself seated on a couch, staring off into something the viewer can't see. That absence is intentional for the ambiguity invites interpretation. Some might assume it’s a TV, which makes sense given the context, but for me, it represents the quiet pull of uncertainty, the way we can become absorbed in something we don’t fully understand. I wanted the figures to feel both vivid and ghostlike, beautiful yet heavy. A contrast that mirrors how I felt at the time.
I hope that when people view this work, they feel seen. I want them to recognize themselves in that same suspended state. Maybe lost, maybe searching, maybe exhausted, but never alone. It’s not about giving answers. It’s about creating a space where people can sit with the mystery, and feel like someone else has been there too.