Metamorphosis
-Inspired from The transformation of Butterflies
I grew up in China, then moved to the United Arab Emirates in my early twenties, then relocated to Jordan in my thirties and finally came to the USA in my forties. My work has developed, grown, and shifted through the lenses of these different cultures, geographic structures, and social traditions, which gradually formed my own painting style. My training in art began with academic drawing, which evolved to impressionistic landscapes. Exploring the nature of marks and mark-making in abstract acrylic painting thereafter. Now I am practicing adding more materials to my butterfly project.
All my works are inspired by nature. Nature is the best artist to follow. The image of when I was a little girl, running in the flower field and chasing the butterflies, remains in my heart. I was surrounded by butterflies. The memory of the floral scent and the happiness of playing with butterflies always stuck in my mind as I grew. I wanted to investigate this beautiful creature. The more I learned about them, the more I got amazed by them. I resonated with how these creatures transformed throughout their life cycles. This in a sense, applies to us humans too. It taught me how to balance and overcome the difficulties found in life.
There are four phases in a butterfly’s life cycle. The butterfly’s life starts from an egg, like how our lives starts from a single cell. A single dot, whether it is an egg or a cell, is the beginning of everything. The caterpillar is the second stage. Its main purpose is to eat to grow. The caterpillar sheds off its old skin 5 times during this phase, getting bigger after every layer. Inside every caterpillar, there are special cells called imaginal discs which survives the transformation process of chrysalis, the seeds of change. In the third stage of chrysalis, the caterpillar breaks down into gluey soup. Only at the point of breakdown, the imaginal discs remain. At the fourth stage, the caterpillar finishes its transformation from the gluey soup and morphs into a beautiful butterfly, flying away from its cocoon.
The development of butterfly’s four stages mirrors the development of our lives too. It is the same as how we grow and develop ourselves from a baby to an adult. In life, we must gain as much knowledge as we can to develop our own ideas to be mature. This change is organic, it is from within us. Getting over obstacles, following passions, makes us a better person. We also face many dark moments in our lives, but if we believe that we are similar to the butterflies, then the dark moments become stages we must endure. To move past these moments, we need to reconstruct ourselves and move out from our comfort zone to be reborn.
Painting butterflies is my form of meditation, which helps me think clearly about life. In a way, the butterflies and I communicate with each other. This meditation makes me feel calm and peaceful. I learned to let my burdens go because I no longer need it. I learned that it is ok to feel tired because I am climbing up. I learned that it is fine to take a break because I need to get ready before flying. Understanding the life of a butterfly helped me develop a positive view about obstacles and have faith in myself. It taught me that I must change from inside to transform into a better me. Like a butterfly, I have to go through metamorphosis to grow my wings, so I can fly high to see the beautiful world.
I am a person who is in love with colors. I want the viewers to sense different feelings through the language of color – to feel blessed with a new beginning from the egg stage, to feel joyful as a caterpillar, to feel the excitement from the transformation of a butterfly, and to feel the loss of death. Color has great energy and it touches our hearts. I deliver my energy and feelings through butterflies. The viewers will receive more or less according to their imagination. I hope my paintings will spark my audience’s imaginations to research about butterflies themselves and to bring the confidence they need to make a leap of faith that they will sing and soar in life.
The transformation of butterflies is a source of inspiration for my artwork and my personal view of life. I am amazed by the butterflies’ abilities to withdraw, breakdown, reform, breakthrough, and to soar in life.