"Chrysalis"

“Chrysalis” is a pupa of a butterfly, also a sheltered state or stage of being or growth. This is a self portrait painted from life. The figure is naked under the canopy of leaves, protecting something within the hand, against her chest. The little animal bones are drawn upwards among the dark leaves, nestled into the underside of the leaves. From above, the butterflies echo that same triangle overhead, spread out among the tops of the leaves and into the air. Creatures of light and air, juxtaposed with bones of earth and decay, I find both states of mind reside balanced within me. I was fragmented, and delicate inside myself when I painted this. In some ways even as I emerge into a new state of mind, it is still a delicate and fragile way of being, as the butterflies are, that emerge above the bones. This painting explores the healing process of deep wounds.
The geometry within the composition is essential to my art, as I plan out each painting to have its base in strong geometric shapes. It gives order and bones to the chaos and happenstance of nature, which is currently intrinsic to my body of work and artistic voice.