Monarch and Deco Flower
Susan Poitras
Mixed media (graphite pencil, beads, collage on deckle-edged paper)
Fargo, North Dakota
A Monarch butterfly alights at the center of a radiating mandala flower in this richly detailed mixed media work on deckle-edged paper. The composition is built on strict bilateral symmetry, with elongated petals fanning outward in warm yellows and ochres, each surface elaborately patterned with scrollwork, dot motifs, and undulating forms drawn from American Indian decorative traditions. A small beaded medallion anchors the center, with beadwork accenting the butterfly's wings and lending tactile dimensionality to the otherwise planar surface.
The deep burgundy field surrounding the central motif is densely populated with a repeating grid of small moth figures rendered in fine graphite, creating a textile-like ground that reinforces the work's relationship to craft traditions. A scalloped border of similar winged forms completes the composition.
Poitras combines natural subjects — here the iconic Monarch — with geometric patterning rooted in Native American arts and crafts, dissolving the boundary between the organic and the ornamental. The result is simultaneously decorative and ceremonial in feeling, suggesting themes of transformation and the natural world rendered through a lens of cultural reverence and meticulous hand labor.
Framed with deckle edges visible beneath glass in a black float frame.