The Moment We Leave Ourselves

In moments of overwhelming emotion, the body can feel like it momentarily steps aside. We observe ourselves from a distance – as if watching a character in a story rather than inhabiting our own skin. This strange separation between body and feeling lies at the heart of Inheritance of Emotion, a visual narrative that explores the concept of unbecoming.

Inspired by the restrained emotional tension often found in classical literature, particularly the romantic hesitation present in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the work explores what happens when carefully maintained composure begins to collapse. It captures the instant when control slips and emotion rises to the surface – an experience that can feel almost surreal, as though the mind and body are no longer perfectly aligned.

The Illusion of Composure

The imagery centres on a woman dressed in white, a colour historically associated with innocence, purity, and idealised femininity. At first glance, she appears to embody these expectations. Yet as rain falls and the fabric begins to cling to her skin, the symbolism transforms.

The white garment becomes transparent and heavy, revealing the physical presence beneath the social mask. What once signified perfection and control begins to dissolve, exposing something far more human: vulnerability.

Watching Yourself Feel

In this moment, the subject appears both present and detached. Her body stands exposed in the rain, but her emotional experience feels removed, as though she is witnessing her own vulnerability from somewhere outside herself. The rain becomes a mediator between the inner and outer worlds – a physical force mirroring the emotional release taking place within.

This sense of disconnection reflects a familiar psychological response. When emotions grow too intense – whether grief, desire, or fear – the mind sometimes distances itself from the body as a way of processing what cannot easily be contained. The experience occupies a liminal space between awareness and dissociation.

The Emotions We Inherit

Inheritance of Emotion also gestures toward the ways feelings are passed down through generations. Emotional restraint, particularly among women, has long been framed as a virtue: control, modesty, composure.

These expectations become inherited behaviours, shaping how individuals express – or suppress – their inner worlds. Emotional discipline becomes something learned, repeated, and passed forward.

Yet the work questions that inheritance.

The woman in the rain does not resist the emotional storm surrounding her. Instead, she stands within it.

Breaking the Pattern

What might initially appear as vulnerability becomes a form of transformation. By allowing emotion to surface, she breaks away from the patterns she has inherited. The rain becomes symbolic of release – washing away the pressure to remain composed.

This transformation becomes especially striking. The subject exists simultaneously in two states: physically present, yet emotionally observing herself from a distance.

Her body remains grounded in the physical world, while her emotional consciousness seems suspended somewhere just beyond it.

Awakening Through Distance

Rather than portraying emotional release as chaotic or destructive, Inheritance of Emotion frames it as a moment of awakening. The experience of stepping outside oneself – of seeing one’s own vulnerability from afar – can become a turning point.

It allows the individual to recognise inherited expectations and choose whether to continue carrying them.

In this sense, an out-of-body moment is not merely an escape from feeling. It can also be the beginning of self-awareness.

When we see ourselves from a distance, we may finally understand who we are becoming.

Photos by

Model: Holly Marie

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