About THE OTHER ME, story and the making

About THE OTHER ME, story and the making 0

The story of THE OTHER ME started with the idea of a portrait I wanted to create for Newcastle's Kilgour Prize. I imagined painting a goddess of the sea with a peaceful, dreamy look. In the background she is guarded by the ghostly presence of a school of fish, an impression of the dreams she bears or a flutter of her thoughts. 


When it felt finished, I hung the painting on a wall and glanced at it from time to time. The feeling that there was more to this portrait than I could explain grew every day. She was somehow talking to me and there was no way I could understand what she was saying. 

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Image: THE OTHER ME, original art by Christine Onward 

 

But one day, from the corner of my eye, I saw my mother's face watching me from the painting. 

 

And I remembered then a night from my childhood in Romania. It was a cold room, with frosted windows. My sister's face rests on one side of the pillow, and my mother's on the other side. She pulls us closer to her and covers us in so many blankets, and on top of all that she adds her fur coat. 

 

Mother's eyes are closed. We should sleep too.

 

The fur tickles my nose. The moonlight shines through the frozen flowers on the windows. Its rays rest for a while on my mother's face. I want to grab them, catch them in my hand..., but maybe she is already asleep.

 

We shouldn't wake up goddesses at night...they might start, again, to shiver. 

 

From this collection you can also see:

MAGICAL JOURNEYS - limited edition - art book by Christine Onward

Postcard- THE OTHER ME. Original art print by Christine Onward

ANGEL UNDER THE MOONLIGHT - original art decoration, painted rock by                                                                  Christine Onward