Excerpt:

The initial approach to this piece was to explore love as a spectrum—chaotic and violent on one end, soft and tender on the other. Early sketches depicted entangled figures in a bed, limbs wrapped, hair pulled, skin stretched—physical intimacy at its most visceral. But as I worked through the composition, a shift occurred. Moments of softness—hands resting on pillows, arms embracing, heads gently nestled—felt more real, more like love.

Reading All About Love by Bell Hooks, I was struck by a quote from Harold Kushner on our fear of love’s risks, the avoidance of intimacy for fear of disappointment. This resonated with me, reinforcing my initial focus on physicality—gripping, tugging, caressing—as love’s rawest form. However, during a visit to my family in the Dominican Republic, I recognized love’s broader dimensions: love of self, identity, family, and friendship. Love is warmth, security, and an overflowing cup that nourishes those around us.

In a humorous twist, I realized the figures in my painting—based on my own body—represented self-love just as much as intimacy with another. The choice to render them in luminous green-yellow was intentional, referencing both the mating dance of slugs—grotesque yet beautiful—and the heart chakra, the center of love and compassion. This color embodies the essence of love as a radiant energy exchange, an aura that glows from within.

Ultimately, these figures surrender fully to one another, dissolving into their environment and each other. Their forms are shifting, translucent, merging—a metaphor for love’s dual nature: beauty and ugliness, ecstasy and pain. To truly love is to embrace another in their entirety, flaws and all. Love is not just an emotion; it is a conscious choice made every day. And that, I believe, is the essence of our humanity.

Thank you Patricia,

love you <3