"Sicily," Acrylic on Wood, 2022.
I am inspired by movement and dance as an art form, but also as a way to release energy and stored tension in my body. Movement heals, and it also inspires.
This piece started with the prompt, "create a work of art thinking about something that cannot be turned off." I chose a moment in dance.
The figure initially started as a reflection of my current self, resting in the beauty of how I feel dancing. Confident. Content. At peace. Playful. But as a kept painting, I noticed the woman began to take on characteristics of another. She wasn’t only representing me anymore. But inspiration from a future version of me and also a woman who has inspired me deeply in a season of pain. A woman who also loves to dance, whose confidence and presence pierces a room, whose energy is electric and magnifying yet subtle and unyielding.
Meet "Sicily," the woman who represents the combination of my California mama, Sylvia, and my future self.