The Heat Beneath the Snow
“The Heat Beneath the Snow” (2025) was created by layering acrylic paint onto a sheathing panel, measuring 48 by 36 inches. This piece was inspired by a photograph I took during an outdoor Christmas Eve celebration at Dania Pointe a few years ago. Although heavily abstracted, there’s still the faint suggestion of a crowd in the foreground, surrounded by structures and palm trees wrapped in lights. Falling atop it all is snow, or at least the closest you can get to snow in Miami.
For this work, I chose a new surface to paint on, opting for sheathing panel instead of particle board. This material caught my attention for its added texture and how it visually mirrors the layered nature of memory. Structurally, sheathing panels are made of layered wood strands bonded under heat and pressure. In a similar way, memory and lived experience layer within us in order to form our identity. We aren’t made from a single block of experience, but from countless fragments we gather over time.
During the painting process, I incorporated more splatter than in previous works. These gradual specks of paint were meant to simulate the illusion of light at the center, drawing the viewer in and offering a space to inhabit the memory and perhaps even connect it to one of their own.
Continuing ideas presented in Kitsch Meridian, “The Heat Beneath the Snow” also reflects on the erosion of South Floridian culture and the displacement of the communities that shaped its identity. But unlike Kitsch Meridian, which leans into loss and fragmentation, this piece offers a more hopeful tone. The fake snow and illuminated palm trees pay homage to the customs that have grown from this place. Even as the wealthy buy us out and politicians make it clear we’re no longer welcome, we hold onto these traditions because they remind us that although we come from different places, this is meant to be a home for all. Though heavily embellished or artificial, moments like these become meaningful simply because they are experienced as a collective. The falling snow, though clearly fake, still carries weight. It reminds us that not all traditions need to be “authentic” to feel real.
Rather than mourning what’s fading, this painting embraces the beauty of the moment itself. It invites viewers to approach memory not just with nostalgia or critique, but with an acceptance that meaning can come from impermanence, and that joy can exist within the performance.
In painting this scene, I’m not trying to preserve a perfect version of the past, but rather trying to remember what it felt like to stand there. Under the lights, surrounded by people, watching it all unfold.
