In September 2020 my mother passed away. It was the first time I experienced the death of someone this close to me. This painting is about fond memories with my mother on the beach collecting seashells along with spending time in the water. The color choices and the glitter represent her personality as well as the bubbles. This is not a sad painting, I want it to show the love between a mother and daughter. I am a mother of two daughters now and I share the same bond with my girls as I did with my mother.
This painting has helped me deal with my grief, as well as push my design and artistic aesthetic even further with the introduction of some new materials like the resin and 3-D elements. This painting along with the others in my "Dead Bunnies" series is part of my process of rediscovering my self expression again. I've known since my mother's passing that I needed to do a painting of her. I tried a portrait, or a more literal painting conveying my grief, but for me it never "clicked." Personally, I don't mind if the viewer understands or knows my story about the loss of my mother and my coping mechanism, I want to create a multilayered shiny work that makes people peer a little closer and perhaps smile. Making others smile and lighting up a room was my mother's way of being, and that is exactly what I wanted to emulate in this piece.
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