The Weight Behind Me
- Linda Chido
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
The inspiration behind the painting.
I finished The Weight Behind Me on the same day I completed Homage Dior. They feel like two sides of the same coin. One explores what we build and present to the world. The other honors what built us.
I began The Weight Behind Me soon after reconnecting with a childhood friend. We both grew up in Buffalo, New York. At first, I thought I might title the piece Hometown Gal. But that title didn’t fit. The painting made it clear it wasn’t about nostalgia or sentimentality.
It was about who stands with you.
I began the piece thinking about Buffalo the city. By the time I neared finishing the painting, it felt less about a place and more about something steadier.
The composition is simple. A single light source rises from the lower left, catching the planes of my face and the bend of my leg. I’m seated, one knee lifted, arms resting casually across it. The body is relaxed. The expression is almost smug. The palette is muted. And behind me, emerging from darkness, stands a massive buffalo.
Not threatening. Simply there.
The buffalo carries the echo of my birthplace. I don’t pretend that connection isn’t real. But the animal in the painting is not a mascot. Even if I sometimes think, here I am, and I brought my friend.
Wherever you grow up, you absorb the posture of that place. Buffalo is a city that understands the harshness of winter. It understands endurance. Buffalo Bills fans call themselves the Buffalo Mafia, which tells you everything you need to know about loyalty and grit. There’s a particular attitude that forms in that kind of weather and community. You learn to brace for blizzards. You learn to hold on for Spring. You show up for your own.
That doesn’t disappear when you leave.
Do I even know the buffalo is there? Am I aware of what stands behind me? I would like to think so. But much of what steadies me operates below the surface. I don’t always see the architecture that holds me upright. My confidence is rooted in something I know is there, even when I can’t see it. The people I come from. The place that formed me. The friends who grew up beside me and the ones I have chosen over time. The people who answer when I call. The folks who steady me when I risk something. The collaborators, friends, and collectors who make my work possible. I don’t do much alone. None of us really do.
That's my buffalo and it allows me to sit relaxed in the light.
There’s chutzpah in that posture too. A smile that’s just a little cheeky. A subtle warning not to underestimate me. But mostly it’s pride. Pride in the fierce loyalty of where I’m from. Pride in the posse that surrounds me now. Pride in knowing I can take risks because I’m not alone.
This painting has been added to the Thresholds series because thresholds are never crossed alone. Even when we appear solitary, something stands behind us. Memory. History. Place. Family. Friends. The long line of events that had to align for us to be here at all.
Do I need to know the buffalo is there?
No.
I know it has my back.
The Weight Behind Me is part of an ongoing body of portrait work exploring authority, reclamation, and the interior life of women standing inside pressure. You can view the larger inquiry here.
LINDA CHIDO ART
Copyright © 2026 lindachido.com / LINDA CHIDO ART, All rights reserved.
Comments