I went for a walk in the snowstorm

Things have felt frozen lately, literally and figuratively. I think of climate as the backdrop for everything; culture changes so drastically with temperature. When I paint, heat is usually the point of origin for me. Things begin to grow under a warm light.

I think of all the places I’ve been and all the places I’ve left that reconstruct themselves in my mind. I put the same symbols in several different contexts throughout my work to mimic a daydream that changes a little each time you retell it.

My core symbol has always been the hibiscus. It’s the flower I grew up with, it’s native to my first home, and it has always felt like the flagbearer for sun-drenched weather.

A while ago, I painted a web of blue hibiscus on the winter coat I wore for years after I first left my hometown. The coat survived so much with me and cocooned me through the turbulent transition into adulthood.

This month, I travelled from my warm-ish home to a frigid place for work. I needed to finalize something, and this trip was the first and last step in me doing so. I didn’t feel particularly strong through the process, but I got to wear my coat again and felt like it was protecting me. The hibiscus on the coat resembled snowflakes and connected the past and present on my body.

I made this painting when I got home. I layered chalk and watered-down oil pastels to create an atmosphere of frigidity. As an iron-deficient baddie I have always loved eating ice. It’s crystalline and clear, and I think we don’t marvel at it enough. Walking through a snowstorm isn’t as bad when you observe the snow, how it spirals and separates and thickens the wind.

The original is 12x16" in size and was created using acrylic paint and chalk pastels on canvas.