36” x 40” x 1.5"
Ink, acrylic, colored pencil, pressed leaves on canvas
2024
She used to be friends with pain. It took up residence in her heart, left signs of its visits in her eyes. The day she asked it to leave, it begged to stay, both of them comfortable in each others’ presence. It loved the home she’d built in her soft heart.
Pain’s visits were bittersweet in their frustrating familiarity; its presence better than the vacancy it left behind. One day she made friends with peace, and she finally learned what it feels like to come home to HerSelf.
The Mess Collection features a visual mapping of emotions, specifically the celebration of joy, surrender and peace that results from having endured the grieving process as depicted through abstract expressionism and florals.
Abstracted flower imagery along with the use of real pressed botanicals from the artist’s garden can be seen throughout this series as LaCaria explores the paradoxical symbolism behind flowers and how they’re exchanged at both time of celebration and mourning.
The floral elements draw parallels between the impermanence of seasons and life chapters, the ebb and flow of time and the ephemerality of emotions. The artist aims to evoke a nostalgia in the viewer by prompting the recollection of a memory in which flowers were present, for better or for worse.
LaCaria uses bold swatches of colour reminiscent of bouquets and garden beds along with heavy line work symbolic of the written words of eulogies, lost conversations and past self-talk. These expressive elements come together to communicate a visual mapping of the emotional cycles that accompany grief as one moves forward into a state of joy by paying respect to the past self that was left behind.
The resulting collection as a whole features compositions that embody a sense of ascension and levity as emotions appear to lighten and soften towards the upper parts of the canvas; or feature focal points of nothingness through the use of heavy negative space - an intentional commentary on the revelation that comes from the process of surrender, acceptance and the rebirth of the Self.
More info about this product:
This painting was hand-stretched by the artist in her studio on 1.5" gallery profile wood stretcher bars and comes ready-to-hang with D-rings and flexible wire. This original work of art comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, an artist statement and signature. Collectors are encouraged to contact the artist through the contact page or via email for quotes on shipping. Paintings can be shipped crated, ready-to-hang, or dismantled and rolled for a more cost-effective option (stretcher bars can be included or discarded depending on buyer's request and plans to re-stretch the work). The artist is not responsible for any incidents or imperfections that occur by professional framers during the re-stretching process. For local collectors, pick-up is available in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, address provided upon request/purchase.
Please note the collectors/buyer is responsible for charges associated with shipping and/or for providing arrangements for pickup. The artist (or gallery) will facilitate the shipping/pickup process by obtaining various quotes, packaging the product safely and scheduling a pickup date at no extra cost. Reach out to the artist directly through the contact page for any inquiries regarding this piece.
*This is an original painting by Tania LaCaria, there is only one in the world. Decorative frame not included.*