Garden of Eden

2023

Acrylic and glow-in-the-dark paint on canvas

60cm x 60cm

What truly defines an alien? Is it something different, something separate? I wanted to explore this duality between human and not, connection and disconnection. Inspired by Vivien Szaniszlo’s contemporary use of glow-in-the-dark paint and Melissa McKinnon’s use of abstract flora, I depicted an abstracted Garden of Eden. I used bright colours and line work, while also adding texture through use of a palette knife, depicting the goodness, beauty, and life of God’s creation in the beginning.

When the lights are turned out however, representative of the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden, the figure, Eve, is given inhuman, alien-like features, symbolic of her separation and alienation from God through her sin. The plants vanish as “the ground is cursed because of you” (Genesis 3:17) and snakes swarm Eve. Through this cultural context, you can also know of my experiences with being alienated by society because of my faith.