Ophelia
A rather large piece attempting to reinterpret a classic work with a more contemporary aesthetic, using a combination of ink and acrylic on canvas.
This reimagining of Sir John Everett Millais’s Ophelia diverges from the customs of Western oil painting and applies to the 1852 piece an aesthetic inspired by the crisp two-dimensionality and measured color palettes of Japanese ukiyo-e. Usage of teal and magenta—drawn from works of Hiroshige and Hokusai—pairs with delicate, meandering contours that further allude to the Japanese artists. Suggesting both tranquil song and graceful acceptance of death, the painting approaches the drowning of Ophelia with ambiguity and reworks the composition through a manner informed by the ethereal symmetry found in medieval religious art.
