with Jamie Grace Davis, Fine Artist
To me, art is delicate balance between ideation, experimentation, craft, and surrender. Kind of like life.
For Butterfly Tears, I specifically wanted to use the process of etching and printmaking. This process not only gives the work a sense of refinement, but it allows visions to emerge that one could never have anticipated—especially within abstraction. The work takes on a life of its own.
This was especially true for Butterfly Tears.
The rough granular quality of the etched black lines creates an underlying structure that hints at sadness and struggle. A light pastel was chosen for the butterfly wings to juxtapose this struggle against purity and innocence.
My goal was to both visually and metaphorically capture the idea that the light always finds a way through the cracks.
The ethereal look of the image is also intended to evoke the perspective of looking through a tear.
I use a lot of bio-mimicry in my art—looking to nature for the original imprint. Before beginning to paint, I researched tears. What I discovered is that human emotions produce different chemical components in teardrops. I was fascinated by this. Dave Bishop, the founder of Pathways to Independence, has said over and over that “Every human behavior is exquisitely explainable.” But in the in-between space there’s just so much we don’t understand.
From the blurred vantage of peering through a tear or water drop, and looking at the world with painful eyes, what emerges are images or emotions one wouldn’t have expected to see or feel.
When I created a watercolor butterfly wing over my raw subliminal etchings, I had no idea that the subtle figure of a woman would emerge when the image was mirrored. It was an awe-inspiring moment.
As an artist, I feel works are often so much bigger than the artist.
This is no exception.
See more of Jamie Grace Davis’ artwork at jamiegracedavis.com.
Photo by Christine Fay
