Still Standing

Still Standing serves as the closing statement of The Void. Not a triumph, but a testament.

At its center stands an exposed ribcage, fractured and incomplete, with several ribs broken away. From the rupture in the ribs emerges a raven, forceful and urgent, expelling color into an otherwise muted space. The raven embodies the compulsions that refuse to be silenced. A creative impulse, emotional urgency, or the raw need to self-express and continue.

Above the ribcage floats the ghost of a crown, dulled and stripped of its former shine. Once a symbol of control, confidence, and identity, it now lingers in a weakened state, no longer anchored, yet not entirely gone. It suggests that while the Void may erode one’s sense of self, it does not always succeed in removing it completely.

Inside the ribcage, a small heart hangs by a thin string, deliberately placed rather than naturally held. It appears fragile and exposed, tethered with care rather than certainty. The string represents a conscious effort to preserve hope and positive feeling. Imperfect, but intentional.

Still Standing acknowledges the cost of enduring the Void. It leaves you fractured, diminished, and altered. Yet the piece insists on one final truth: even stripped to bone, with identity dulled and the heart barely held in place, continuation remains possible. Survival here is not about wholeness—it is about refusal to disappear.