April 28, 2026

Milkweed Entanglement, #2 [2025]

Acrylic and Oil on canvas, 110 x 110 cm

I am required to write a statement about this piece before the Paul and Norma Tikkanen Painting Prize submission deadline, July 18 (see link below).

This is the best I can do, for now:

"The endangered monarch, the milkweed sanctuary in my garden, the risk to animal and human life associated with modern times, and how our combined fate is commingled, are the inspirations behind this painting.

This painting figuratively splits light into complementary components, in effect, canceling out its own image — a half-disappearing monarch, half-disappearing art, and half-disappearing observers are projected.

For the visually impaired: A 49 x 49 grid of 2 cm squares was painted using acrylics on canvas. The array is comprised of reversed colors that were rendered from a pixelated display of a monarch feeding upon pink milkweed flower in the sunlight. Subsequently, an X of complimentary color was painted over each of the squares using oil paint, generating a painting that metaphorically disappears.