In her latest paintings, Dannika reflects on the tension between our collective disillusionment with society and the persistent need to hold onto hope, the light in the dark. She examines the cognitive dissonance of balancing optimism, joy, and presence in the face of an overwhelming sense of doom and gloom. Without hope, we risk spiraling into states of burnout, fatalism, and apathy. These works capture the temptation to succumb to feelings of dismay and overwhelm caused by seemingly never-ending bad news and the denial and/or resilience required to carry on with everyday life. They pose the question: can we, as complex humans, hold space for both despair and joy—embracing anger, sorrow, small moments of beauty, and the hope found in community and nature? By allowing room to accept both the negative and the positive, we may find a way forward.