This is a title I’ve been holding onto for years. I always thought I would use it one day, when the right image finally came to me. I was eager to paint something with it, but I liked the phrase so much that no image ever quite felt right. This time, I suddenly felt like I could finally paint it — so I used it. That said, if another image comes to mind, I might reuse the title again in the future.

Originally, the phrase came from a comedy skit I was watching. I thought I heard the line, “I am the entrance to the afterlife,” and wondered what it meant. When I replayed it, I realized it was a mishearing — the rhythm matched, but those words were never said at all. Still, I felt it was such a compelling phrase that it sparked my imagination, so I made a note of it.