This art piece is about the pain of growing up and leaving your childhood behind. The painting depicts my present self looking at my past self in the reflection of a mirror. The older side is black and white while the younger side is in colour. I made this decision because I feel like when you’re younger the world in general just seems a lot brighter and more colourful. The mirror is also an important aspect of this piece because it contradicts the fact that when you look in the mirror you are supposed to see an exact image of yourself staring back, whereas here the reflection is not the same, it is a romanticised image of my younger self, staring back wistfully at the changed and grown adult image. The older figure rests her hand on the mirror, almost in a useless attempt to reach her younger self through the solid looking glass. In the background, we see a childhood bedroom, in which I included pieces that can be found in my own bedroom such as the bookshelf and chandelier. I think a lot of young people in my generation can relate to this piece especially after so many of us lost time due to pandemic as well as the social climate forcing a lot of us to grow up fast. There is a lot of nostalgia that fills this piece and I think it’s okay to mourn your childhood, as well as reconnect with that part of yourself because it is really important.