Anxities Collection- “The Midas Touch”

This is a piece I made as a reflection on the tensions I feel as an artist, between creating from a pure place and the pull to turn that creativity into income. I based it off the fable of The Midas Touch, where a king is granted a wish that everything he touches turns to gold. All great until he touches his own daughter and she hardens in front of him. In my piece, the hand represents my desire for wealth, reaching out. The butterfly is my creativity. Once it was free and delicate. Now, still beautiful, but no longer alive. 

When every idea becomes a product and every moment becomes one I feel I should capitalize on, the magic begins to harden. It’s a fragile balance trying to protect the wild, honest part of me that makes art while also living in a world where survival depends on its profit. 

Could I have kept the butterfly a different color in this piece, not yet turned to gold? Yes, and I thought hard about this really, keeping it out of reach. But if this is a collection about anxiety, I felt it was important to the viewer to understand that the line has been crossed here, the moment has already happened. The butterfly still in the air, but falling with its new weight. A warning if you will, of the fate guaranteed to your work when you succumb to the desires of wealth.

“The Midas Touch”
16'' x 16''