This mixed media painting titled “Cycles of Return” is an intense exploration of origin, movement, and memory. It merges collage techniques with vintage papers and subtle topographical references, creating a textured tableau that evokes both the geographical and the personal journey. Central to the composition are two birds, depicted mid-flight, which symbolize a return to a place imbued with personal significance, perhaps a nostalgic nod to a nest or special place that felt like home.
The artwork is infused with the sense of movement, indicated by sweeping circles that could represent the cyclical nature of life’s travels or the orbits of returning to one’s roots. These circles also cleverly allude to the dance of DNA—spinning threads of identity and existence, and in a cultural homage, they reference the DNA Lounge, an iconic dance spot from San Francisco’s 90s era, visited by the artist, and known for its vibrant music scene and electrifying dance floors.
The layered collage elements serve a dual purpose: they bring forth a biological structure echoing DNA’s double helix, and also map out a journey across spaces, both literal and metaphorical. In this piece, DNA stands not only for the biological blueprint but also as a metaphor for the intrinsic patterns and rhythms that define a place and era, suggesting that the essence of a city like San Francisco can become part of one’s identity, as intrinsic as the sequences within our cells.
Artwork is on watercolor paper, signed.
