In Union / In Grief (Diptych with In Grief)

I came into these paintings drawn deeply to the colour red – having just discovered I was pregnant - red, or the root chakra as primal, ancient energy. It is blood, childbirth, lineage and bloodline. A thread that connects us back through time – invisible, internal, stretching across aeons. It is DNA, sex, instinct, passion, lust and death. The beat of a drum, a fire in the dark. Red is our roots – grounded, powerful, elemental. It is both our origin and our return to the earth. After an initial colour wash of reds and golds, I developed figures through the emergent forms in the textures, colours and washes of water, paint and mopping of water with newspaper. In Union emerged with ease – the coming together of two. In Grief took longer, initially holding the feeling of leaving behind who I had been, closing one chapter and stepping into another. Weeks later, I miscarried and abandoned the works. When I returned to them, the second painting finally unfolded, revealing a hand that pointed to a previously hidden figure – an embrace, a shared moment of grief. My process begins intuitively, working with a limited palette and fluid washes to retain translucence and allow organic forms to emerge. Once dry, I observe what has surfaced and continue to develop the work using ink and acrylic – drawing out figures, refining detail and building narrative through layers. The work becomes an exploration of personal myth – cathartic and autobiographical, while resonating with a broader human experience of connection, loss and transformation.

Emerging from layered washes of red and gold, this diptych - In Union and In Grief - speaks to connection and the coming together of two, in love, life, marriage and intimacy Developed intuitively through fluid mark-making and evolving forms, the figures in In Union surfaced with ease – reflecting intimacy, creation and the generative energy of the root. In Grief unfolded more slowly, initially holding a sense of transition and letting go. Revisited after loss, a second figure emerged from within the layers – revealing an embrace. The work speaks to shared grief, transformation and the quiet presence of connection within loss.