Medium: Mixed-Media Size:20x20 Framed

After six years away, I returned to Chicago, the city that shaped me. Coming home has felt like an act of uncovering, rediscovering fragments of a past that never truly left. As a teenager, the CTA was my lifeline, carrying me across neighborhoods, teaching me the rhythm of the city. When I came across old train maps from those years, I recognized an opportunity to transform memory into art. This is a love letter to Chicago. The pride that comes from being raised here is singular and enduring, something you carry regardless of distance. I cut the Loop from the original map and placed it at the center of the work, hand-crafting the Chicago flag in thread. The Loop represents the heart of the city’s transit system, while the flag symbolizes the people, the point where lives, paths, and stories converge. Three black threads run through the piece, representing the train tracks that bind the city together. Crossing them are eight colored threads, each corresponding to a CTA line. The abstract shapes throughout the work echo these routes, reflecting Chicago’s layered motion and constant flow. Framing the composition are elements of iconic Chicago architecture, positioned in opposing corners alongside the image of a train, honoring the system that carried me through my youth.