Columbine; clever and mischievously drawing in the sorrow of Pierrot; the sad clown, innocent and romantic. These are two classic figures from the Commedia dell’Arte, the Italian theatrical tradition that influenced European art and performance from the Renaissance onward.

Together, they symbolize the duality of love and loss. Through paint, the tension between the eternal chase between romantic idealism and reality is captured. The vibrancy of color reflects emotional intensity, while their doll-like forms suggest theatricality, as if love itself is being preformed.

I didn’t choose these two clowns for the subject of my painting… the two characters arrived in my life like a whispered story from another time. Pierrot was a gift from my grandmother, an echo of my ancestry. Columbine came from a fleeting connection, a mirror of unrequited hopes.

When I painted them together, I realized i was painting my own hearts theater, the tender dreamer and the elusive muse meeting at last on the same stage. This painting is about the dance between longing and self discover, about finding myself through the characters who found me first.