Originally in 2019 and currently updated 2022. COW 2019 Visionary Archetype

Acrylic on Canvas
60 x 90 cm

'She Who Sees Between and Beyond' originally painted as the final archetypal painting in my Color of Woman Teachers journey in 2019. She has been calling for some tendering to revisit where I left off in my visioning of my journey into 2022. Now was the time!
She is in communion with the breath of stars, the light that runs through us all. I call upon these allies to bring me new clarity and vision of my purpose for 2022. Two years of ongoing growth, curating my growth edges, deepening my spiritual practice of creativity. Death, new life, changes everywhere, focus and determination, the sacred yes and the sacred no. Finding and losing oneself over and over.
When I sat with her and asked her what she wanted - I heard the wind. When I asked her colours - I saw the colours of the cool ocean. When I asked her what symbols - I saw the triangle illuminating behind her and the koru/spirals with threads of connection. When I asked her how am I connected - I saw the red thread flowing around her.
Her face largely unchanged from the original painting, she wears the sacred skin markings for women; Moko Kauae/chin markings; a long ago rites of practice my ancestors from Aotearoa New Zealand held, lost in the colonization process, reborn anew in a resurging movement across the land and being celebrated by many wahine/women, young and old, reclaiming their birth right to claim their moko kauae, without justification. It is a sacred process embedded in sovereignty and mana. For now I paint mine and adore its power and beauty. I do not copy any photo of a wahine's moko as its is not ok to do so, therefore I create my own markings. I have been asked many times 'when will you get yours Moana?' 'come home and receive your moko kauae'. I am waiting for the breath of stars to direct my path, one day they tell me, for now you wait'.