L’Énigme des Étoiles
At the heart of L’Énigme des Étoiles is a sea star, enspirited and ascending, its radiant form rising above the fractured and eclipsed capital of a Roman column. The figure emerges as both celestial and aquatic—bridging sky and sea, mystery and empire. Around it, a shimmering inscription unfurls without beginning or end: “the star’s glittering brightly while you dream of the saltwater and so it heals all wounds like a twisting mystery under the stars glittering brightly while you dream of the saltwater…” The mantra invokes saltwater as a primal element of renewal, a solvent for human wounds, and a space where myth and memory dissolve into mystery.
The integration of oil, acrylic, and glittering mixed media creates a temporal layering that mirrors history itself. Pigments specific to the Age of Science intermingle with contemporary materials, evoking the way Romanized systems and Enlightenment traditions were laid across the unknowable rhythms of the natural world. This layering speaks to how Grand Tour ideals shaped Philadelphia’s health sciences culture—bringing with them both genuine discovery and the shadow of snake oil, the specter of the witch doctor.
In this work, the sea star becomes an emblem of survival and regeneration, embodying nature’s ability to heal and outlast those who would conquer.
At the heart of L’Énigme des Étoiles is a sea star, enspirited and ascending, its radiant form rising above the fractured and eclipsed capital of a Roman column. The figure emerges as both celestial and aquatic—bridging sky and sea, mystery and empire. Around it, a shimmering inscription unfurls without beginning or end: “the star’s glittering brightly while you dream of the saltwater and so it heals all wounds like a twisting mystery under the stars glittering brightly while you dream of the saltwater…” The mantra invokes saltwater as a primal element of renewal, a solvent for human wounds, and a space where myth and memory dissolve into mystery.
The integration of oil, acrylic, and glittering mixed media creates a temporal layering that mirrors history itself. Pigments specific to the Age of Science intermingle with contemporary materials, evoking the way Romanized systems and Enlightenment traditions were laid across the unknowable rhythms of the natural world. This layering speaks to how Grand Tour ideals shaped Philadelphia’s health sciences culture—bringing with them both genuine discovery and the shadow of snake oil, the specter of the witch doctor.
In this work, the sea star becomes an emblem of survival and regeneration, embodying nature’s ability to heal and outlast those who would conquer.