Acrylic on canvas, 30″ x 30″
With inspiration drawn from alchemy, folklore and heraldry, this piece features a central figure, inspired by the Goddess Cybele, who wears a crown consisting of a city with the ring of the crown forming the city wall. Heraldic trefoils stream from her hair and a knightly arm emerges from her head holding an oak branch with acorns to indicate the profound fertility of the earth. The alchemical green lion devours the sun, an image to represent the first stage of alchemical work. Separate and combine, dissolve and coagulate – alchemy is the chemical distillation of substances, continually breaking down and rebuilding to remove impurities and theoretically evolve the original element into gold. This process symbolically expresses the challenging purification of the soul along a spiritual path. The snake wrapped around the egg holds hidden interior wisdom and rebirth. The house of Baba Yaga from Russian folklore dances it’s way through the forest on chicken legs. When approached by travelers, the house faces away. Only when the correct words are spoken will the door be revealed. Butterfly-winged frogs cavort in the sky. Fish symbolize fertility and overabundance. The elements and characters constantly revolve, evolve, and interact. Change is stability; stability is change. In 2011, this painting was featured in “The Abstract” at the Sandra Lee Gallery, San Francisco, CA.