In the quiet of my studio, surrounded by layers of paint-stained wood and the scent of pigment, I return again and again to a recurring symbol—the sunflower. It emerges from the canvas not just as a flower, but as something deeply human: an eye, a tear, a vessel of memory and rebirth. My current series has become an exploration of transformation through vulnerability, with the sunflower standing in as both a mirror and a witness.
One piece shows a woman’s face partially peeled open, revealing a sunflower with a human eye at its core. This image speaks of the rawness of love, the kind that stares back at you, even when it hurts. It’s not just about beauty—it’s about resilience and the light we hold within, even when fractured.
In another, a small nude figure rises from the bloom, basking in golden light, as if reborn. Here, I wanted to convey release—how we grow not despite the pain, but because of it. Watercolor lends itself to this message beautifully. It bleeds, it surrenders, it surprises. The pigments become emotional echoes; the edges blur like memory, like forgiveness.
The butterfly, appearing softly in some works, is a witness to this metamorphosis. Delicate, yet insistent, it hovers where the divine meets the fragile—where healing begins.
These paintings are my way of saying that we are not just one thing. We are layered: sorrow and radiance, shadow and bloom. And somewhere in that tension, something beautiful begins to rise.
Thank you for witnessing that with me.
— Jet James
