“I was inspired to explore the color palette of Henri Matisse when I painted this piece in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The desert truly is a great teacher, the redundant beige color of everyday life, reflecting on all the blessings, a bit of heartache of letting go of the old and the beauty in the mundane.” -- Maggie José
Part of the artist’s Creation & Decay Series, this striking memento mori – a reminder of death – is part of the Creation and Decay series. Inspired by the palettes of Henri Matisse, bright colors celebrate the precious existential joy that even painful emotions allow us to feel.
Against a swirling chaotic desert-inspired background hangs a Celtic cross, at once traditional and pop, on which sits the visage of our mortality. Energies and colors flow, affirming the endless cycles of life in creation and destruction.
The Sampaguita flower from the Philippines, trailing gently across the piece, traces back to the artist’s country of birth. The Sampaguita is a symbol of purity and simplicity, strength and humility.
‘The Self and Life Itself’ is painted in a language unmistakably from the dreamy and unconventional imagination of Maggie José.
