Gridlocked and Loaded by Ayla Pilar in Phoenix

This piece was created midair, on a flight back home, in a moment where I felt the need to reconnect with myself and reclaim my sense of magic after years of burnout. I used Procreate on my iPad, which has become an essential tool in my creative practice — especially as a former printmaker who once feared bold color. Digital art allowed me to experiment without the permanence of ink and paper, and gradually, it helped me overcome my hesitation around vibrant, saturated palettes. For this work, I leaned fully into color as an act of self-celebration and rebellion. The figure, rendered in rich pinks with glowing yellow beams radiating from her eyes, represents a reclaiming of my body — a love letter to myself as I navigate the aftermath of mental health challenges and weight changes. The vibrant background, filled with electric blues and energetic abstract forms, mirrors the emotional intensity of that moment, while the leaves and red ribbons weave through the scene, symbolizing growth, vitality, and movement. It’s a personal, uncommissioned piece from my archive, born out of a desire to rediscover the magic I felt I had lost. In that quiet, suspended space between destinations, I gave myself permission to create something unapologetically bold, tender, and a little otherworldly — a visual reminder that healing and magic can exist in the in-between.