Cosmos

 

Cosmos

51.5" x 42" Watercolor, Ink, Gouache, Acrylic and Graphite - Sep 2021 to Oct 2022
  • Moon moths - Spanish, Madagascar and Indian. The name actually comes from "moon" spots on the wings that look like ringed planets, and these moths are huge. The Madagascar moon moth (EN) - aka the Comet moth - is bright yellow and has long tails on the wings that look like the fiery tail of a comet.
  • Moths - drawn to the light - to fire and to their destruction. They merge with and become the fire.
  • The leopard's tail is a version of Shesha, the king of serpents and a primordial being of creation (Hinduism). Shesha is said to hold all of the planets in the universe on his hood, which I have used thematically in the current body of work as an object of reflection or introspection.
  • "Everything out of nothing" - Egyptian creation. The black void has the potential to become everything - bits and parts replicate, cells divide, separate and expand. This melanistic (black) leopard leaps through the void, with constellations inside, bound gravitationally. It grows stars, moons and planets then spews them into space. The void fills with eyes, looking, flying and knowing, ancient knowledge.
  • My work is very slow to make since every little interaction has to be constructed to fit into the "structure" of the greater image. I weave stories into some sections, which, no one will ever know about. Here I have an octopus in camouflage-mode, with a black feather wreath around his "third-eye". A green macaw makes a lighter color patch and is eaten by a black snake, while a second black snake is being eaten by a raven. Ravens can be terrifying (though beautiful) as I have watched so many of them pull baby birds from their nests.