This painting was inspired by some oddly postured birds and their solemn formation I observed, and eventually the image morphed into a funeral process with a dead bird on the stretcher accompanied by sad mourners of various types of birds. The painting is depleted of colors, as fitting to the serious occasion, and the focus entirely on shape, contrast, and narrative ritual.

By employing surreal anthropomorphism, this painting conflated the familiar daily life and the mysterious animal kingdom. By removing the natural colors, the painting elevated the ordinary event of mortality into a sacred collective act. By taking a familiar, quiet moment of loss and expanding it into a dramatic ritual, the familiar turns strange—prompting reflection on memory, reverence, and how we ascribe deep meaning to the smallest, most fragile lives.

This painting will be exhibited from November 14th through December 16th in a juried exhibition, titled “Convergence of Creativity: Unexpected” in Lindsay Dirkx Brown Art Gallery at San Ramon Community Center, San Ramon, California.