Blossom

Artwork Info

• Year: 2013.
• Medium: Photo Manipulation, Digital Painting.
• Style: Dark Fantasy Digital Art.
• Size:  40×40 inches (100×100 cms).
• Model: Andrea Meléndez.

“Blossom” is an artwork made in collaboration with photographer Andrea Meléndez for the exhibition “Substantia”, by the international artistic collective Hysterical Minds. She took a black and white photo of herself holding a mirror and sent it to me to turn it into something else, as the exhibition was aimed for the collective artists to collaborate with each other.

Artist’s statement

blossom /ˈblɒs(ə)m/

1. noun: reproductive organ of angiosperm plants. A flower or mass of flowers, specially on a tree,
2. verb: to develop or come to a promising stage.

Following the saying “the brightest lights cast the largest shadows”, I wanted to represent the opposite in a metaphorical way: “In the darkest shadows, lights shine the brightest”. As seen in “Treasure”, I think love has to start in and for oneself. I was heartbroken and in the dark, hurting. I needed a mirror to see myself in and rediscover appreciation for myself.

Then Andrea Meléndez came with her pic holding a mirror for our collaboration. The photo was dark and gloomy and I instantly related to it. Although I don’t like the concept of representing love with an iconic heart, I considered making my own personal take on that idea. I turned that  into chopped down branches coming from the character’s head, resembling veins and arteries and using that as the only splash of color in the composition. I added sprouting branches coming from the mirror, located in the chest area, to symbolize the growth after the damage.

“Blossom” is ominous, solemn, dark, emotional and epic, certainly a light in the darkness. A kind reminder to look ourselves in the mirror and find the will to grow and learn. This illustration is a monument for victory, that reminds us everyday that we must appreciate darkness to grow a light inside.