When I was little, my father brought me some silk worms to take care of. I don’t know if he wanted to teach me something or just wanted to keep me busy. Anyway, I watched them carefully, I fed them mulberry leaves daily, I created all the conditions for them to grow and cover themselves in those beautiful silk eggs that they left as soon as they methamorphosed into silk moths.
It was an interesting experience that thought me about transformation, about how things in life are in a perpetual motion and change. Back then, I didn’t grasp the full, deep significance of what happened. That revealed to me later in life, but still… my understanding started in that moment, in my early childhood. The moths and the butterflies are a well-known symbol of change, of resurrection, but to me, they are also a symbol of the fragility of existence. All it takes for a moth or for a butterfly not to be able to fly anymore is some rain drops on their wings. So little. The same drops of water that quench the thirst of a swallow, are a real threat for these little wonderful beings. And just like in their case, the entire world is threaten by something while moving and transforming constantly: sometimes by water, sometimes by fire, sometimes by earthquakes, or meteorites, sometimes by simple words. One day, while googling all kind of nonsense on the subject of transformation, I stumble upon a quote that remained with me:
“We are all just a car crash, a diagnosis, an unexpected phone call, a newfound love, or a broken heart away from becoming a completely different person.
How beautifully fragile are we that so many things can take but a moment to alter who we are for forever?” – Samuel Decker Thompson
Of course, my next step was to follow this “adudewritingpoetry” (as he calls himself) on instagram. You should, too. He has some beautiful things to say.
And, while being so impressed with these beautiful, fragile butterflies, I have realized that their lives, their delicate beauty, their fragility is not by anything different than the fragility of the Universe and its constant moving and transformation. And of course, from this inner realization, my new painting was born: The Butterfly Galaxy. Because… what’s in a butterfly, what’s in a planet or a star? Same thing. Same changes. Same fragility. Same wonder. Different levels but, in the end, it is the same thing.
Thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to read the inner process that led me to this painting. 🙂
PS: if you feel that your walls need a Butterfly Galaxy print, you can order it here: Society6, or, if in Europe, here is a wonderful store: Artflakes.