Where the Light Remains

Artwork story

My candle installation reflects the theme Home Beyond Borders by exploring home as something emotional and evolving rather than tied to one place. Through hand-cast wax houses arranged in a descending gradient, the work represents movement, memory, migration, and belonging. Some houses glow from within while others visibly melt as they burn, symbolizing transformation and impermanence. Using light, wax, and architectural forms, the installation invites viewers to reflect on home, identity, and the experience of carrying connection across borders.

The motivation behind this artwork comes from my interest in the emotional meaning of home and the ways people carry it through memory, identity, and experience. I was inspired by the idea that home is not always tied to one physical place, but can exist through feelings of comfort, belonging, culture, and connection.

Using hand-cast wax houses allowed me to explore these ideas through transformation and impermanence. As the candles burn, melt, and change shape over time, they reflect the fragility and evolving nature of home, especially through migration, transition, and lived experience. The glowing houses symbolize warmth, memory, and presence, while the melting wax captures vulnerability, adaptation, and change.

Through this installation, I wanted to create a space that feels both intimate and reflective, encouraging viewers to connect their own experiences and understanding of home to the work.