Kuriosities

Thinking on cocoons and safety, I was inspired to draw a few. A quick search showed me dozens of different types of cocoons and I settled on the Monarch. They reminded me a bit of space pods… their lurid green, and unearthly delicacy – the intricate little bumps, and feathery textures. Their alien design reflecting an alienation we feel from the world, how we remove ourselves from it altogether when necessary. How intricately we build our defenses, how we decorate and camouflage them. (Something of which I have been known to be guilty of, for sure.)

And of course, this led me to want to make tangible this symbol of alienation and protection…of restitution and suffocation.

Like any symbol, and like most things in this world, a cocoon is not something that is a necessarily negative. The world can be bitter, and toxic. The winds may blow so cold and hard that our wings are torn and shredded like shattered silk. We may need to retreat to a safe warm spot to nurse our wounds and regenerate. We need time to grow stronger, to ponder and absorb what we have learned. A cocoon can be a place of solitude and restitution.

We only become imprisoned when we forget that there is a world beyond those safe warm walls. When so deep in our slumber, we become complacent – we are reluctant to leave the cozy warm blankets of our dark morning and set our tender feet on the cold floor. And just like a sick room, our cocoons can become stuffy, stale, and full of dis-ease.

And so, I place a reminder on this piece. Just a little whisper in the midst of our dreaming,  “fly“…