Lady Earth

‘Primavera’ springs forth with symbols of life, rebirth and fertility, as well as the reassuring gaze of a Mother Nature-ish figure having an almost third-eye experience. The creatures and the growths of the wild are there for our delight, but not for our control.

It’s hard to see in the first photo, but Kenna actually has an entire row of real ladybugs marching in a line across her chest and shoulder. These were found during my artist residency in Tennessee where we had the most adorable infestation. Apparently it’s a naturally occurring thing that ladybugs stow away inside wood houses during the winter and then when their natural life cycle ends, you’re pretty much left with piles of the cutest corpses ever.

This 3D painting is comprised of an aerosol on found object background with the figure and mushrooms painted in oil on Belgian linen. Included are dried plants from my travels on the mainland as well as in Hawai’i, a trail of real (and naturally deceased) ladybugs, gold accents, and a reproduction moth suspended within the layers of clear acrylic resin.

I chose the name ‘Primavera’ (the Italian word for ‘spring time’) after this exceptionally rejuvenating and ethereal painting that I’ve been fortunate enough to visit twice in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy by one of my most favorite painters of all time, Sandro Botticelli.

oil on Belgian linen on wood panel with mixed media in acrylic resin; framed

6 x 8 inches

2021