In Laying Roots, a man pressing his hands into the ground as if trying to draw strength from the earth itself. The painting is rich with muscular brushwork, not only in the figure’s form but in the confident, painterly execution. His posture evokes more than exhaustion or reflection; it suggests the beginning of something deliberate—an act of rooting, of choosing to belong. With its grounded palette and tactile immediacy, Laying Roots becomes a quiet meditation on identity, permanence, and the physical labor of becoming.