Title: The Pause Before Departure
Artist Statement I attend to moments where the body recognises transition before the mind has found language for it. Here, departure is already present, even though no taxi has arrived and no door has closed. The suitcase becomes a proxy for intention, carrying the weight of decisions alongside belongings, attachments, and unfinished conversations with place. It waits as I wait. This image speaks to my ongoing inquiry into alonetude and embodied knowledge. I was alone when I took the photograph, yet held within a sense of belonging. The stillness was chosen. The pause was deliberate. In that pause, I could sense how places enter the body and remain there, long after one has left. The railing frames the view without enclosing it, suggesting care rather than constraint. What lies ahead is visible, waiting to be entered. As a researcher, educator, and artist, I understand transition as a form of learning. Leaving teaches us what mattered. Waiting teaches us how to listen. This photograph holds that lesson gently. It holds the moment without rushing it. It allows departure to arrive in its own time. Photo Credit: Amy Tucker, 2026
Me voy, pero no me voy vacía.
Amy Tucker, 2026
Me llevo el mar en el cuerpo
y la calma que aprendí a sentir sin miedo.
Aquí lloré.
Aquí soñé.
Aquí descansé por primera vez en mucho tiempo.
Entendí que no estaba rota,
solo cansada,
solo esperando permiso para soltar.
Gracias por sostenerme
cuando no sabía cómo sostenerme yo.
Adiós, Baja.
La tercera orilla vive en mí ahora.
Donde vaya, la llevo conmigo.
I am still here.
Translation note. Spanish language passages were generated using Google Translate and subsequently reviewed and refined by the author. Any remaining infelicities reflect the limits of machine translation rather than intent.