Metamorphosis: Out of Darkness
A transformed way of being
Symbolically Metamorphosis represents a transformed state; rebirth into a new way of being. Celebrated as an evolution in one’s life, often associated with spiritual growth. Entering the cocoon, the caterpillar emerges as a fully formed butterfly. We applaud these transitions as a completion of a process, yet little thought is given to the time spent inside the darkness during that transformation, when every cell of the original body dissolves before the new can take form.
This series of work represents my own season of metamorphosis, beginning with the onset of the pandemic, in which everything I did as a working artist changed. Through the past three years of significant health issues and multiple diagnoses, navigating many difficult personal and family matters, and coming face to face with the limitations of my own abilities.
Three years of darkness inside the process of metamorphosis, shedding a lifetime of collected ephemera and vintage papers I could no longer work with, along with my old identity. Grieving what was, while seeking to find my footing as an artist, exploring new mediums and techniques in an effort to find my way forward.
As I began to emerge from that place, I could see what had been building through it all. My own transformed way of being as an artist and a human. Each fragment represents a season of loss and discovery. Fractured and fragmented bits of my life, brought together to form a beautiful and complete picture. Each one contains at once, the old that dissolved into the new. Each work is a visual representation of the completion of that process.
The show was installed this weekend. Though I’ve not been in to see it in person yet, It feels like such an accomplishment to see it hanging in the picture. Over 25 works representing the span of the past three years working in various mediums, somehow always migrating to paper.
Painted, kneaded, waxed, plastered, stained, dyed, salvaged paper, each from different seasons, different processes, courses I’ve taught, experiments performed. None of it was intended for this purpose and yet somehow here it all is, one cohesive body of work. Like the caterpillar, dissolved into cellular matter and reassembled into something new.
Opening Reception — Saturday, October 28, 6-9pm
2nd Reception — Saturday, November 18, 6-9pm
Blue Moon Gallery | Guest Artist: Crystal Marie
METAMORPHOSIS: Out of Darkness
On view through December 3.
Open Weekends 1-4pm
Grayslake, IL
Between delivering this show, shipping 3 small works off to Alexander Heath Contemporary for an invitational group encaustic show, and hosting a live facebook event, it’s been a big week. And oh yeah, I think I celebrated my birthday!
Here’s what else is happening:
Early Registration Now Open!
Join guest artist Natalie Dadamio on an expedition to unleashing your creative freedom!
Unlock a deeper conversation and connection to the intuitive self through expressive mark making exercises.
Investigate what it means to connect more intimately to our marks, memories, and movements by exploring our relationship to energy, emotions, and intuition.
Create in a series of small works on paper
experimental mark making exercises
Working with paper's resilience we connect to our own inner resilience.
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With gratitude, Crystal Marie