I don't want to leave my house

For the first time in my life, I have control over my own space. I recently moved into my first apartment, shared with my partner and friends. Three years ago, my family fled the war in Ukraine and came to Canada. As a 19-year-old living with my parents in a new country, it was a confusing experience. I was craving familiarity and novelty at the same time. In my new home, little souvenirs from the past sit on a bright blue metal shelf I bought and assembled myself. I’ve finally found exactly what I was looking for, so I’m going to take my time and stay home for a little while. I’m 21, and I have never been older. This series is a documentation of every mundane detail of my life right now. It’s a reminder of comforting familiarity and a celebration of newly accomplished freedom. Through intimate compositions and a focus on quiet, overlooked moments, I seek to create a visual language that captures the fragility and significance of feeling at home. While deeply personal, this work speaks to universal experiences: the longing for connection, the need for sanctuary, and the bittersweet complexities of rebuilding a life after upheaval.