Analog collage

Paper on paper

11” x 8.5”

to see strange things (2025)

In To See Strange Things, Honey confronts the profound mystery and disorientation of the afterlife… not merely as an abstract concept, but as a tangible personal narrative shaped by a conversation she had with her father on his death bed. The surreal landscape, set within a gothic cathedral and disrupted by a flat, line drawing of a classic Greek façade represents the threshold between life and the unknown beyond. Standing at this threshold is a solitary man, momentarily suspended in contemplation. He is poised at the brink of the afterlife, yet his hesitation reveals that the journey ahead is not as expected… nor as promised.

Dominating the scene is a monumental female figure, who looms above the composition, powerful and authoritative. She embodies a presence reminiscent of a gatekeeper, perhaps a secular reinterpretation of the biblical St. Peter… someone who holds the authority to grant or deny passage. Her scale and imposing stance convey the immense, unknowable power governing this transition. Though Honey herself does not subscribe to religious ideology, her father deeply did; thus, the imagery honors his beliefs while simultaneously questioning the very structures upon which they are founded.

The spiral beneath the man's feet symbolizes the disorienting experience of confronting an afterlife starkly different from the one imagined or promised. The phrase "HOW STRANGE!" floating prominently within the structure becomes a direct reflection of his internal bewilderment… an exclamation of profound disbelief that reality beyond life may not align with human expectation. In this liminal space, expectations are shattered, perceptions realigned, and faith challenged.

The absence of Honey’s signature tentacles (traditionally representing her agency, her power to comfort, dissect, or reframe) signifies her own momentary helplessness in the face of her father’s departure. Here, she can neither guide nor intervene; she can only bear witness, reflecting the universal truth that in moments of profound loss, we are inevitably spectators rather than active participants.

Ultimately, To See Strange Things serves not only as a deeply personal tribute to her father but as a meditation on the universal human experience of confronting the unknown. It invites viewers to reflect upon their own expectations of life, death, and the spaces that lie between, prompting us all to acknowledge that perhaps the only certainty in existence is uncertainty itself.

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hymn of the perverse