Transforming, Connecting – The Hidden Paths

Details of "Transforming, Becoming - The Hidden Paths"

This painting is part of a series of 3D works I call Lifemaps and Passages. As with all of my work the Lifemaps reflect the philosophy of finding the beautiful in the imperfect, in things decayed, rusted, faded and forgotten. In this piece he central image is formed of a stone with attached seaweed found on Whiffen Spit on Vancouver Island.  It is bordered on each side with pieces of a print I made for a series on transformation - in this case of a woman transforming into an antelope - the central figure.  The piece is intended to evoke awareness of our connection to the earth and the natural cycles of growth, decay, and renewal/transformation.  

The quills are from Africa and Canada, the chops are from China with the exception of the chop on the bottom of the top right image which is my own signature.  I like to use bits and pieces from my own life journey in my work. For example, I collect stones and pottery shards from everywhere - I have some from Italy, China, Sudan, Egypt and so on, even Sierra Leone!  So my work not only focuses on  untold or forgotten histories but also contains some of that history often with an emphasis on herstory  - women's stories.

This piece has a removable glass cover to make care easier.  I had the cover made removable as I like to be able to really feel the multi-dimensional character of the work.  It's pretty fragile though so be careful with removing the glass or touching the objects.

Special thanks to my framer, Germain Badke, the woodworker / renovator extraordinaire, who made my beautiful boxes.