Vrittis is a painting on cardboard inspired by the circles formed when a drop touches the surface of water. Just as a single drop creates ripples across the water, our inner disturbances create waves within us. Painted in acrylic and oil pastels, the work brings together shades of blue and warm earthy browns — evoking the relationship between water and earth, and between nature within us and the natural world around us. The work is part of the series Rooted in Freedom, in which I explore our fundamental connection to the Earth and the idea of belonging beyond borders. We are human beings, rooted in the same Earth, yet we often define ourselves through the places and nations to which we belong. These boundaries are human-made structures — created to divide, define, and organise something that, in essence, is much more fluid. For me, freedom exists in the possibility of belonging without being confined: to move, to connect, to leave, and to carry a sense of home within us. Wherever we go, we remain part of the same living world. Rooted in Freedom reflects on this tension between belonging and freedom — and on the possibility that the boundaries we perceive between us, the land, and one another may not be as absolute as we have learned to believe.