Power of Three

I thought about how I could reconcile the difficulty of growth, and celebrate that I'm now embracing the strength and power from within. People call you names and give you labels. They may not understand you. But you hold your own power, you understand your value, and you can change the stigma of those labels. That's when the idea of women blooming came to mind.

I wanted the abstract shapes of the bloom to represent women's constant growth and change, and used the phases of the moon to mark the different stages of their journey: Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Together, the three form one cycle. Each phase holds its own power: the power you are born with, hone throughout your life, and carry into wisdom. Like the moon, the cycle is constantly changing, so the three panels can be hung side by side or stacked from top to bottom, and the direction each woman faces echoes the phases of the moon.

The blooms are made through acrylic pour, a process I think of as conscious randomness. I plan the colors and composition with intention, but once the paint meets the canvas, it moves on its own. The organic shapes that emerge become each woman's hair: her thoughts, her memories, her energy, powerful and ever-flowing. Beneath the surface lies a second layer. Moon phases, freckles, and wavy lines are painted in glow-in-the-dark pigment, nearly invisible in daylight and revealed only under ultraviolet light. Like the women they portray, these paintings hold more than what first meets the eye. The complex details may not always stand out, but the light is always within.