'Eternal Love for the Elements' - Original 4x4 Painting

'Eternal Love for the Elements'

This painting was created as part of my Island of Things Collection. With this collection, I’m carrying out research on my indigenous Taino roots. As I gather and reflect on family oral histories, symbols of the Taíno, and written histories about the myth of their extinction, I’m more and more inspired to create these works. This painting references the "Eternal Lovers" petroglyph, typically shown as two birds with their beaks meeting. For the Taíno it was a love scene, but is also wrapped up in their idea that everything they grew or killed belonged to the entire tribe. This motif takes on a bigger meaning when we think about it in context of how we should care for nature. This earth belongs to all of us, and we all have a responsibility to care for it. 

For this specific painting, I was thinking about how the Taíno people viewed the elements as living, spiritual beings that were central to their cosmology. Their reverence was part of an animistic worldview, where the natural and supernatural worlds were deeply interconnected. Respecting the elements meant that they were able to live in harmony with them and with the land. 

A small 4x4 inch watercolor, ink, thread, and acrylic abstract map painting on handmade watercolor paper. These small paintings look great in floating frames!

10% of the sale of this painting will be donated to The Women's Earth Alliance. When women thrive, the earth thrives. Women's Earth Alliance catalyzes grassroots, women-led solutions to protect the environment, end the climate crisis, and ensure a just, thriving world.