The Legacy:
18” X 14” canvas, with mixed media acrylic and oils with linseed.
Artist’s Statement – Legacy
By Kelsie Young
Legacy was born of a moment so intimate and sacred that it reshaped my understanding of spiritual inheritance.
Several days after my grandmother passed, something extraordinary happened. Several doves emerged from my aunt’s coop on a brisk evening in Pennsylvania. One by one that evening, in a matter of moments, they laid themselves down at my feet. The seventh and final dove was the matriarch, and she passed a couple of days later.
But the story began months earlier, during a tipi meeting ceremony in our Native American church. That night, by the fire, I received a vision: a ceremonial drop fan made of dove feathers. I had never heard of a dove feather fan before. At the time, I didn’t know what it meant—but when the doves came, I did. It wasn’t just grief. It was a transference. A spiritual handing over.
From those feathers, I created a prayer fan composed of 73 feathers—the year I was born. Dove, songbird, memory, and breath.
This painting is that moment made visible. Legacy is a visual prayer—a sacred offering to the ways spirit speaks, inheritance moves, and ancestral wisdom flows through the quiet moments of surrender. It’s framed with gemstones not only for beauty, but to echo the sacred vibration of what it holds.
This isn’t just about loss. It’s about remembrance, continuity, and the mystery of being chosen to carry something forward.
For those who know the veil is thin.
For those called to remember.
Please reach out if you are interested.
