Still Beside You – Original Mixed Media Painting by Erin McGrath Rieke
About this Artwork
Still Beside You is an original mixed media painting created in 2023 as part of my ongoing series, Turbulence Behind Tranquility. The work explores the complicated presence of one person remaining beside another through depression, trauma, emotional withdrawal, and uncertainty.
The two figures appear close, but their connection is neither simple nor complete. Expressive marks blur the boundaries between them. The title carries both devotion and sorrow. To remain beside someone is not the same as being able to rescue them. Sometimes love exists quietly, without resolution, answers, or visible progress. It appears through endurance and the decision not to leave when another person has become difficult to reach.
Still Beside You honors that form of companionship. The painting considers presence as an act of care, while acknowledging the loneliness that can remain within even our closest relationships.
Artwork Details
Artist: Erin McGrath Rieke
Title: Still Beside You
Year Created: 2023
Medium: Mixed Media on Paper
Image Size: 8 × 10 in
Presentation: Professionally matted and framed
Frame Size: 11 × 14 × 2 in
Style: Contemporary Abstract Expressionism / Expressive Portraiture
Subject: Human connection, emotional presence, depression, relationships, psychological abstraction
Series: Turbulence Behind Tranquility
Original Artwork: One-of-a-kind
Additional Information
Still Beside You is part of Turbulence Behind Tranquility, a project exploring mental illness, trauma, recovery, and resilience through abstraction and intuitive mark-making. Each painting creates space for emotional experiences that are often hidden, misunderstood, or difficult to express through language.
The relationship between the figures remains intentionally unresolved. Their closeness suggests tenderness and loyalty, while their indistinct forms preserve a sense of emotional separation. The work reflects the reality that supporting someone through psychological suffering can involve remaining present without fully understanding what they are experiencing.
Throughout the series, I explore the complexity of mental illness without reducing an individual or relationship to suffering. Still Beside You recognizes that love does not always arrive as transformation. Sometimes it is simply the quiet promise of continued presence.
Like much of my work, the painting remains open to interpretation, inviting viewers to bring their own experiences of companionship, distance, devotion, and survival to the piece.
Collecting Original Artwork
My original paintings explore mental health, identity, trauma, healing, relationships, and the emotional terrain that shapes our lives through expressive abstraction, layered texture, and intuition. Each piece is created entirely by hand as a unique original.
Collectors interested in contemporary abstract art, expressive figurative painting, psychological portraiture, or artwork exploring human connection and emotional resilience may also connect with other works from the Turbulence Behind Tranquility series by Erin McGrath Rieke.
Still Beside You – Original Mixed Media Painting by Erin McGrath Rieke
About this Artwork
Still Beside You is an original mixed media painting created in 2023 as part of my ongoing series, Turbulence Behind Tranquility. The work explores the complicated presence of one person remaining beside another through depression, trauma, emotional withdrawal, and uncertainty.
The two figures appear close, but their connection is neither simple nor complete. Expressive marks blur the boundaries between them. The title carries both devotion and sorrow. To remain beside someone is not the same as being able to rescue them. Sometimes love exists quietly, without resolution, answers, or visible progress. It appears through endurance and the decision not to leave when another person has become difficult to reach.
Still Beside You honors that form of companionship. The painting considers presence as an act of care, while acknowledging the loneliness that can remain within even our closest relationships.
Artwork Details
Artist: Erin McGrath Rieke
Title: Still Beside You
Year Created: 2023
Medium: Mixed Media on Paper
Image Size: 8 × 10 in
Presentation: Professionally matted and framed
Frame Size: 11 × 14 × 2 in
Style: Contemporary Abstract Expressionism / Expressive Portraiture
Subject: Human connection, emotional presence, depression, relationships, psychological abstraction
Series: Turbulence Behind Tranquility
Original Artwork: One-of-a-kind
Additional Information
Still Beside You is part of Turbulence Behind Tranquility, a project exploring mental illness, trauma, recovery, and resilience through abstraction and intuitive mark-making. Each painting creates space for emotional experiences that are often hidden, misunderstood, or difficult to express through language.
The relationship between the figures remains intentionally unresolved. Their closeness suggests tenderness and loyalty, while their indistinct forms preserve a sense of emotional separation. The work reflects the reality that supporting someone through psychological suffering can involve remaining present without fully understanding what they are experiencing.
Throughout the series, I explore the complexity of mental illness without reducing an individual or relationship to suffering. Still Beside You recognizes that love does not always arrive as transformation. Sometimes it is simply the quiet promise of continued presence.
Like much of my work, the painting remains open to interpretation, inviting viewers to bring their own experiences of companionship, distance, devotion, and survival to the piece.
Collecting Original Artwork
My original paintings explore mental health, identity, trauma, healing, relationships, and the emotional terrain that shapes our lives through expressive abstraction, layered texture, and intuition. Each piece is created entirely by hand as a unique original.
Collectors interested in contemporary abstract art, expressive figurative painting, psychological portraiture, or artwork exploring human connection and emotional resilience may also connect with other works from the Turbulence Behind Tranquility series by Erin McGrath Rieke.
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