Transparency of a dream illuminated. Plate X

The butterfly is widely significant in different cultures; symbolising love, regeneration, fortune, freedom, spirituality and death. The connection Greek Mythology draws between butterflies and the souls of those who have passed away is of particular interest to me. My work with Lepidoptera explores this subject in a hyper-real and painterly aesthetic. This is created through using the surface tension of water to interact with the scene, literally painting the subject in light.   

I breed these remarkable creatures in the studio through multiple generations, a process through which great understanding arrises. This delicate creature undergoes an epic transition, embracing those changes without question. 

Unrecognisable from one point to the next, these works explore the theme through the introduction of water, drawing on its transient and destructive nature, exposing the fragility of life and that of our own existence. Water acts as both nurturer and destroyer; having the power to cleanse and reinvent or to drown and disappear.

For me, this series acts as a reflection on life and mortality and how it is fleeting, beautiful and ultimately, tragic.