Butterfly Chase, 2019
Gouache on paper double carousel book structure
Closed: 7 x 10"
2019
Butterfly Chase is a continuation of my search for the intimate connection between humans and the physical and psychological space they inhabit. Influenced by my hot and humid Florida homeland, I find myself drawn to intense colors and dense spaces-- spaces that simultaneously comfort and spur anxiety.
The figures in Butterfly Chase begin to camouflage into the landscape around them-- sometimes figures blend with their surroundings naturally and other times, figures take on razzle-dazzle characteristics with complex geometric shapes and contrasting colors that vibrate off the landscape. Adorned with flower collars and patterned skin, each figure reaches out in search of something. In this gesture, berries, waterfalls, and butterflies become placeholders for fleeting feelings of deeper psychological connection to one’s space.
Butterfly Chase is constructed with gouache on watercolor paper in a double carousel accordion format-- the 6-sided panel reveals a landscape void of human interaction. The 5-sided panel reveals flower figures adorned in patterns and colors that mirror their environment each in search of something. The rotating carousel structure heightens the continuous chase for connection. The linear stretch of accordions and uninterrupted patterned place mirrors the expanse of this chase.
Completed in the winter of 2019.