Consolation Flowers, Sunflowers

Consolation Flowers, (Sunflowers) oil on canvas, 34 × 22”

Consolation Flowers, Sunflowers is the fourth piece in my Consolation Flowers series, a deeply personal original sunflower oil painting on canvas inspired by a season of loss. The subject of flowers carries profound meaning for me—symbolizing the temporality of life, femininity, fragrance, fragility, and the tradition of vanitas art. Many of my floral paintings are made from direct observation of arrangements for the deceased, and this one began as a drawing before I committed it to canvas. The sunflowers were condolence flowers I gifted to myself, and I watched them in my studio as they moved through their life phases. Even in their driest state, they retained their strength, and I remarked on that resilience with a luscious impasto surface that gives this painting rich texture and depth. I hope my admiration for their presence and endurance speaks to you as it does to me.