This collage is a visual memoir of a relationship that felt like a playground on a battlefield. “The Boy I Let Go” explores the tenderness and torment of a love that never fully grew up—one marked by curiosity, distance, betrayal, and the slow unraveling of trust. The overlapping faces, eyes, and expressions symbolize the many versions of myself I tried to become to be loved by someone who could never meet me where I was until it was too late and he knew I was going to be gone forever. A butterfly sits atop, hinting at the transformation that only came through letting go. The film strip at the bottom holds glimpses of joy, pain, and the stories I tried to hold together—until I realized I deserved more. The bird on the barbed wire symbolizes the freedom I was going to give to myself after realizing I could’ve flown the whole time. This piece is not just about loss, but about reclaiming my own worth. It’s a goodbye to the boy who never became the man I needed—and a hello to the freedom I finally chose.

What’s interesting is that I started this piece on a Friday, and when I started considering the lore behind it the next day, I literally got sick with a sinus infection that same day. I’m still recovering from it.

This piece is very unique because it’s the first collage that I’ve made of its kind. Normally, I don’t have a story behind my collages. I just put the piece together and then build a story based on my own life experiences and what I intuitively see as I’m building. I create the story as it comes.

But this one? This one I already had an idea of what I wanted to create in the emotions I wanted to explore behind it. We put each other through hell.