HEART HUG (2014)

This painting is a hug to the whole world with a wish from the heart for peace. I created an image representing a nurturing feminine energy with arms wrapped around all the people of the world. Human society is characterised by the red carved profiles looking in opposite directions. They are symbols of the divisions created by political, cultural and ideological differences and classifications related to gender, race and social status. The contrasting blue and yellow image is positioned as a heart. It signals the idea of keeping other people in your heart, instead of judging them with your head. The heart hug is a plea to respect people for their humanity not for social status or material attributes. It's a message not to let differences make the people enemies.

The work is from my carved wood series, painted onto carved cedar wood that has been dried, sanded, sealed and prepared for painting. It is an example of my dissolve technique. To achieve this effect I dissolve coloured paint into my own organic paint made from resin in the roots of trees.  I create many abstract portraits hidden inside the texture to convey a range of emotions associated with different aspects of human life.  The hug encircles all these fragments of life experience and wraps them together as a symbol of hope and peace for our shared humanity.

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