What Is the Story?
This is the story of a girl whose home feels like a place with many limits. They tell her directly that the sports she loves, “isn’t for her” and that she should do something else, something more suitable. The words aren’t cruel but they are firm, as if others have already decided who she should be and what she should do.
In the evenings she goes out to the lake. It’s dark, empty and she is free there. On the ice no one tells her what she can and cannot do. No one decides her life for her. On the ice, everything is hers to decide. No voices, no rules – only the cold and the path she chooses.

Why did You Select this Story?
I choose this story because it explores the tension between other’s expectations and personal freedom. It’s core values are self-trust and independence and it highlights how a community matters when it respects autonomy and gives space for one’s own decisions.

Who is in Your Story?
The only character in the painting is a teenager. She faces restrictions at home and goes out on the frozen lake to prove to herself that she is capable of what matters to her, despite the prohibitions and limitations.

Where does It Take Place?
The story takes place at home and on a frozen lake.

When does it Take Place?
The story takes place in the present day, in the winter. The main events unfold at night, showing that she temporarily sets aside her interests. Hiding them from those around her. Although the event happens on the lake in the here and now, the feeling of struggling with restrictions is something that occurs everyday in her soul.

What do you want to be Understood about You/Your Culture?
Through my art I want to show that in our culture self expression, and self trust are important.