This artwork reflects the profound narrative of a young girl’s final journey toward the afterlife. At the heart of the composition, she walks steadfastly along a glowing white slope that leads into the vast, open sky—a symbolic path to heaven. This slope embodies her determination and acceptance of her fate, conveying a quiet but unshakable courage as she approaches the end of her life.

Above her, a vapor trail stretches across the sky, representing her fleeting existence—her life soon to dissipate like a trace of cloud in the wind. The white bay window, faintly visible in the background, serves as a metaphorical boundary between the tangible world she leaves behind and the imagined, spiritual realm she steps into. This interplay between the real and the transcendental underscores the delicate balance of her final moments.

The composition employs a soft, ethereal palette of whites, blues, and greens, coupled with layers of light and texture, to evoke a sense of serenity amidst the gravity of the theme. The absence of fear in the girl’s posture and the steady glow of the white path invite the viewer to see death not as an end, but as a passage to something greater.

Through Hikouki Gumo, I aim to convey a message of acceptance, resilience, and the quiet strength to face life’s ultimate transition. It is a meditation on the beauty of life’s impermanence and the determination to meet the unknown with grace.