Malassine Artworks

Let’s Get Personal: A Story of Healing

In April 2018, after enduring the darkest and most challenging three years of my life—years spent painfully questioning my purpose, identity, and meaning—I boarded a westbound flight in search of answers. I was yearning for a sense of love and humanity beyond what I saw reflected in my daughter’s eyes and felt in her embraces. My faith in people, in society, and in myself was fading. Something inside me knew I had to react—to rebuild, reconnect, and find my way back to life.

Then, on the morning of May 2nd, something unexpected happened. In the heart of Mother Nature, I emerged from the shadows. I felt something shift. The light returned.

“Towards the Light” is a collection born from that pivotal moment—a series of photographs captured within the mystical sandstone walls of Antelope Canyon, Arizona. This body of work will be unveiled gradually over the year, as it contains a broad range of both abstract and familiar imagery.

I didn’t visit the canyon to chase its visual perfection or document its colors and contours for aesthetic appeal. I went with the intention to surrender—to absorb the spiritual energy and humility the place holds. I wasn’t looking to capture beauty alone, but to listen deeply to what the canyon had to say, to feel what the light and stone could stir within me.

From the moment I stepped inside, I knew this wasn’t just a place—it was a metaphor, a mirror for something internal. The canyon’s surfaces, shaped by time and nature’s grace, began to reflect back to me emotions I hadn’t felt in years: peace, connection, freedom, strength, love, and a profound sense of belonging. The way the light poured through the narrow openings and sculpted ephemeral shapes on the walls—it felt sacred, quietly nurturing, and deeply healing.

Walking through that space became the turning point—the rebirth of my heart and soul. For the first time in years, I felt a sense of trust and unity with the universe I couldn’t explain. I left the canyon a changed man.

The experience was so powerful, I couldn’t even look at the photographs for six years. It wasn’t until 2024 that I finally revisited them. Seeing those images again overwhelmed me with emotion, as if discovering the canyon for the first time—its sensual, almost feminine shapes, and the powerful symbolism of light piercing through darkness.

Now, years later, I realize: the path was never out there. It was always within. And the direction forward—always—was Towards the Light.