The original title of this painting is "Female. Ascent".
This painting became the first work from the cycle and an important point of the author's recognition of herself. This is a story of recognizing one's own strength, experience, depth, and the right to follow one's own path.
The fire filling the space around symbolizes not destruction, but transformation. This is the moment when the past is left behind, when bridges that no longer lead forward are burned, and all the lived experience ceases to be a burden and turns into support. The old burns to make room for the new.
The central image of the painting is a fish with the author's eye. The fish symbolizes the depth of the unconscious, intuition, inner knowledge, and hidden potential. The eye — the ability to see, observe, and understand. This is the moment when the deep intuitive part of the personality begins not just to feel, but to see clearly. To see oneself, one's capabilities, one's desires, and one's path.
For the author, this painting became an acknowledgment of her own maturity and mastery. It speaks of a person who has understood a lot about herself, learned to observe what is happening inside and around, learned to hear her intuition and trust it.
The stairs leading to the eye are a symbol of the path to oneself. A small figure in a red dress ascends towards her own depth and her own strength. This is an image of the inner grown-up person who no longer turns away from the true self, but decides to meet themselves face to face. Every step on these stairs is a step towards honesty, awareness, and inner freedom.
The golden color of the iris symbolizes the value of accumulated experience, inner wisdom, and that treasure which a person discovers within themselves. At the same time, the iris is painted in the real color of the author's eyes, which makes the painting a deeply personal story. Gold here becomes a symbol of immense potential, vitality, and inner fire, which have always been inside, but could have remained unnoticed for a long time.
The "Om" symbol at the top of the painting reminds of a person's connection with something greater than themselves. That even the deepest inner changes are part of the general movement of life and the unfolding of one's own destiny.
This painting is about the moment of choice. About the courage to climb the stairs to oneself and see one's true depth. About trusting one's intuition, inner knowledge, and that power that has always lived inside. This is a painting of letting go of the past and gratefully accepting all lived experience — a reminder that the most important discoveries happen not in the outer world, but inside us.