"Entangled" was commissioned in 2022 by Biosciences lecturer emeritus, Alma Novotny, for the Biosciences teaching suite at Rice University.
I created "Entangled" to depict how the health of an ecosystem relies on the interdependent relationships between its many different parts.
Through expressive, gestural depictions of tangled cilia, seaweed, and vines, "Entangled" captures the jumbled and inevitably enmeshed fabric of our ecosystem.
Entangled Triptych: Acrylic on Canvas
"Small Mess"
"Wet Mess"
"Green Mess"
The Process
"Entangled" was originally commissioned as a mural before running into wall painting permission blocks.
In the preliminary mural sketch, I focused on the coils and tangles of cilia, seaweed, and vines. I was inspired by the enmeshed nature of the ecosystem -- how certain species of fungi in the soil foster the growth of trees while sea otters help protect kelp forests from being overgrazed and destroyed. To imagine all links within an ecosystem is to envision a knotted mess!
"Entangled" Digital Sketch
I bound, stretched, and gessoed the canvases in Spring of 2022 with the help of painting Professor Fowler. I then worked on the paintings in the summer of 2022 before retouching and finishing them in the Spring of 2023.
In the film "Clearing out my Studio", I discuss how my stylistic choices developed and changed greatly during this process.