Originally, this very old painting had a figure but she was years later painting over with luscious grapes. Whenever I glanced at the painting afterwards, her retracted presence–as if kicked out from the private lunch–felt ghost-like.

I remembered she used to smile back.

An analogy for how people can be physically removed from our lives but their memory endures could be drawn, but I won’t. This was an early work and when unsatisfied, my creations would either be thrown away or painted over.