Noctua is a depiction of darkness’s seemingly paradoxical duality. Darkness obscures what, when looked upon in light or with clarity, can be harsh and traumatic to see. Viscera, overwhelming pain, failure, or death all can be obscured, hidden or even romanticized in darkness. In this way darkness brings comfort and a sense of security as it can hide away truths that are to difficult for us to experience. Darkness can, in the same instance, amplify our fears by obstructing our understanding. What is not threating or horrifying can become so when you are in the dark. A family home, bedroom closet, empty street or an unassuming stranger can take on a life of their own influenced simply by the presence of the unknown. This seeming contradiction, present in the nights shadows, is similarly found in our perception of the greatest unknown. The future, a constant pressure calling for our attention, has pushed many to anxiety, to fear, while at the same time is the roots of their hope and idealism. Having struggled with where will I go, what will I do, and will it be okay, I understand the dreams and nightmares they bring forth and so I to found comfort in ignoring them. Just focus on the now, on the immediate pleasures in life. All while the fragility of those obscured prophecies creates monsters, whose teeth sink into every possibility, every opportunity until they attempt to manifest. So I depict that beauty and horror, that struggle or the push and pull, and my unwelcome love of shadow in this project in an attempt to convey it, display it and hopefully so others can relate to it.