Remembrance...

Rampai Vikiniyatanee Sukhum

May 15, 1938 - June 6, 2025

Mom and Pam ~ 1971

In the wake of profound loss, there are moments when words become vessels—not just of memory, but of prayer, of presence, of the unseen. This piece came through in one such moment. It is a poem, a meditation, and a vow—written for my beloved mother, Khun Rampai Vikiniyatanee Sukhum, as she journeyed from this world back into the Light from which she came.

One might wonder why an artist would share such a personal reflection on her website—why speak so openly about the life and passing of one’s Mother? Why offer such intimate details of one’s inner world?

But this sharing, like all of my art, comes from that place—a place of raw, personal experience, where the heart is most alive. It is from this wellspring that I create: in touch with Life itself, in all its complexity, contrast, and grace. And through the act of offering something so deeply personal becomes alchemized into something universal—something others may feel, recognize, or remember within themselves.

The story of my Mother—and the ancestors who walk with her—now informs me and my way of being in this world. And thus, it infuses my artwork as well, as a living expression of that unfolding. Her passing unearthed a rich story of discovery: of ancestral patterns, inner battles between dark and light, and the slow unraveling of generational conditioning that once bound us from our birthright of freedom.

But this is not only my story. I believe it is a story told over and over again—in our families, in our cultures, in the very lineage of humanity. In a world marked by turmoil, division, and forgetting, these stories want to rise. The ancestors are speaking—sometimes in dreams, sometimes in the whisper of wind, in the clap of thunder, or the illumination of a lightning strike. They are calling us to remember.

To remember who we truly are. What we truly stand for. And to walk forward with the strength of Heart and the clarity of Mind—unified, awakened, and whole.

This poem is one such remembrance.

_________________

Momma, oh sweet beautiful Momma…

The heart breaks open a hundred thousand times.

I pray for her auspicious transit back into Light—

as the Light she has always been.

I pray for her Peace,

Joy,

and Freedom.

Khun Rampai Vikiniyatanee Sukhum.

She now lives in the heart,

as this beating heart.

Nowhere and everywhere.

Family karma and entanglements—

swirling like a tempest

around this center point of Peace.

A vow to honor Mother and the Ancestors,

and request for Guidance,

gives access to their strength, now fortified.

And thus—

drawn into that epic melee,

the very play of dark and light—

and then back again

to resting

in the Great Mystery.

Like the contraction and expansion

of this beating Heart,

the Cosmic Heart.

The one and only true Heart

of The Mother.

_________________

To all who read this: may it remind you of your own strength. May it call you closer to the whispers of your lineage, the wisdom of your inner world, and the fierce beauty that arises when grief and love walk hand in hand.

And this is only the beginning...

There is more to come—more unfolding in this great story of remembrance and return. In a forthcoming post, I’ll share one of the most profound synchronicities I’ve experienced: the unexpected, sacred link between my Mother and a painting I created before her passing, This Ecstatic Life. What was once a work of art that I loved—but whose deeper meaning remained a mystery, even to me—has now revealed itself as a kind of premonition…a luminous portal between worlds.

Even in the face of silence, distortion, or attempts to erase her legacy, her story continues to rise. And somehow, so does mine.

With love and remembrance,