And We Praise Her

24" x 24"/61 x61cm

Oil on panel

2019

SOLD

"But you must never let them take
those flames from within your soul.
Instead you must burn brighter than ever,
because you are a Daughter of the Sun,
and you belong only to yourself, not this world."

Nikita Gill

In this piece, Destini is goddess and savior. She is praised by nature, in the form of two Sandhills cranes. They wear chrysanthemums tied to their heads to mimic crested cranes, which are endangered in their native environment. Chrysanthemums represent joy and optimism. The feathers of the crested cranes would imitate Destini’s crown. I chose to disguise Sandhills as crested cranes, instead of just painting the latter, because we humans often believe we can fix the damage we do to the world by introducing what we see as a substitute. The reality is that we don’t understand the complexities of natural environments, and usually get it wrong. The baby cranes are being asked to wear the same headgear. Just like we ask children to buy into our distorted way of life, ignoring their truth.