This painting is the key to the whole show. “Ring” (2018), a small work on stitched paper, predicted the direction my work would take going forward, as exemplified in the larger unstretched paintings. It has the shift in my palette from indigo to warm tones of yellow, red and orange as I came to terms with a family trauma. The small motif of interlocking circles appeared subconsciously and subsequently became an anchor for my compositions. I see it as a symbol of a whole made of parts: mind, body, soul. The French philosopher Jacques Lucan used this motif, called “The Borromean Knot,” to show the interrelatedness of our perception of the imaginary, the real and the symbolic in our lives.

"Ring," 2018, Acrylic, Latex, Watercolor, Gouache, Pencil Shavings, Pencil and Colored Pencil on Stitched Paper, 9 x 10.5 inches.