She's gone

Being confronted by death is never easy. Having it be the death of a person you respected and whose presence you knew could be life-changing is even more distressing. Irene Pijoan died yesterday morning.

She was an amazing artist who was working with us to develop the art component of Soma Park. More than a year back, when I first saw Irene's art I felt really emotional about it. Her art conveyed a certain flow of spirit. Her designs had a strong aesthetic but the medium, which was paper gave it a fragile quality that brought to surface unspeakable emotions. It's a cliche to say this probably but she was also this amazing person. Creative, spirited, strong and beautiful. She had been suffering from cancer for the last five years. But when I first met her I could not tell that she had been through so much. The last few times that I saw her, her cancer seemed to be more of a reality for me. But there was nothing that could have prepared me for this. This is the time that I wish I had done this or that. I wish I had had the opportunity to speak to her just one more time. I wish that the project had gone ahead more smoothly and that she had had the opportunity to see her work being realized.

It is difficult to put into words what this all means. It is strange how death often puts life into perspective.

I hope I have the strength to take her work and do my part to enable it's realization. She would have wanted it that way. I know this because last week, even as she was wasting away she met with her assistant so she could give her complete instructions on how to proceed so the project could be completed.