The July 4th Triptych
Azad I, Azad II, & Azad III
आज़ाद
12" x 12" each
Acrylic & Gold Leaf on Canvas
(completed on July 7, 2020)
Azad I
आज़ाद १
Dragonflies revered by indigenous cultures, were sometimes vilified in Europe. Strong, water crossing, daring, costal, guerrilla, they make me think of freedom, the Revolutionary War.
Azad II
आज़ाद २
Cicadas hibernate underground, and once every 17 years, they swarm. 2020 is one of those swarming years. Cicadas make me think of deep buried trauma, ugly truths, once buried, now ghosts demanding reckoning.
Azad III
आज़ाद ३
Fireflies personify the exuberant summer, and also loneliness. Signaling for company, for help, for allies. For what are we alone?
Together, this triptych came from an American July 4th during the pandemic. Hopeful, and sad, dreading the consequences of the reckoning, while looking ahead to the horizon. America is like that first great love - we are drawn to the beauty, dazzled by the expectation, deeply heart broken by broken promises.
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