The River Lethe

35cm × 45cm, Oil on canvas

The River Lethe draws on the famous mythic waters of forgetfulness: a place where memory dissolves and grief can be eased. In this work, Penelope’s steadfast loyalty to Odysseus is set against her quiet anguish: the weight of endless waiting, the suitors pressing at her door, and the conflicted thought that forgetting him might free her to love again. The painting holds this tension: the pull between remembrance and release, fidelity and desire, the persistent ache of memory, bound with the knowledge that to forget would bring freedom, a release she both resists but secretly longs to surrender to.