Artwork was created digitally and installed as wraps - a mural at Fifth Third bank and nearby RTA bus shelter wrap, located at corner of Madison and Warren in Lakewood, Ohio.
The mural measures 10’ x 15.3’ and the bus shelter consists of 10 panels.
The direction for this mural project was a continuation of the symbolic animal-based imagery seen with ‘The Fortunes’. I am drawn to animal imagery because of its inherent universal quality and because each animal carries their own rich symbolic meanings. While camping recently in Yosemite, I received some upsetting news from back home on my first night in camp. I went to bed emotional and woke up early, before anyone else was awake - it was just beginning to get light outside and as I turned a corner, there was a deer less than 10 feet away from me. We stared at each other, I spoke and it didn’t run. I slowly approached and it still didn’t run. Eventually we walked our separate ways. This deer’s presence and demeanor at that moment seemed significant and made me want to investigate deer symbolism further.
The deer not only is native to Northeast Ohio, but is native to all continents except Australia and Antarctica. In researching qualities the deer represents over time and across cultures, you find: firm but gentle, serene and peaceful in times of stress, strong and brave when necessary, highly aware and instinctual. They are a symbol of kindness even during the most challenging times and are often seen as messengers of change. Over their lives, their antlers will fall off and regrow yearly. In many cultures, the antlers are especially symbolic and are signify regeneration, vitality, fertility, and spirituality and sacredness (as a crown). In Buddhism, deer help men solve problems. In Celtic lore, deer are part of the fairy world and possess secret knowledge of life.
The trees and plants included represent peace, longevity, growth, strength, change, new beginnings. I added more abstract gestural, hand drawn elements as well as runes abstracted with similar symbolic meanings as the plants and deer. The shelter panels were conceived as a continuous landscape of sorts and all art panels/wall contain connective elements whether it be form, texture or color to tie them together. I have centered the antlers as a visual element, with multiple layers symbolizing regeneration.
