Every pawn can become a queen

Mixed media + oil - 40 x 40 x 4cm (16 x 16in)

“And if I really am a queen, I shall be able to manage it quite well in time.” 

“Every Pawn can become a queen” is part of the Midnight in Wonderland abstract series. At the heart of it is the opposing pull between comfort and exploration, the need to remain within the safety of what we know, while longing to discover what lies beyond it.

Alice begins as a pawn with a wonderfully simple ambition - to reach the eighth square and become a Queen. She, who began as the least powerful figure, can now become the most powerful one. The possibility is intoxicating.

Alice is running towards her eighth square. Her dress is beginning to change into a queen’s garment. She feels a crown start forming upon her head. Alice is no longer simply trying to find her way through Wonderland. She is becoming someone who can move through it on her own terms.

She passes the White Rabbit hiding in his hole, the Caterpillar is left behind. They belong to the world she is leaving behind. Old friends forgotten, her attention is fixed on the goal ahead; she is moving forward, but she is also more lost than ever.  She has to run twice as fast to get to Somewhere Else.

This is an Original 16 by 16 inch mixed media & oil painting on a gallery-wrapped canvas. It comes with the wiring on the back and is ready to hang, right out of the box.