Penance: Sun

The sun and moon have governed human life since before we had language for either. Rational and cyclical, masculine and feminine, their significance carries across mythology, religion, and society alike.

While Penance: Moon was the first to be made in this diptych, the solar counterpart brings vibrancy. The brushwork cuts; the palette runs hot from white-gold to deep fuchsia and burnt orange; the colors explode with a restless, burning energy. The sun's three eyes seem only slightly more piercing than those of its counterpart – if only as a consequence of quantity.

The figure in the lower corner here is loose, posture slack: the surroundings may be demanding, but she of herself is not.

Here, penance is structural. The sun observes, she pays no mind: the coexistence devoid of performance is achievable, but this is not what the system was built to sustain.

She may have found her peace; the surroundings and the audience alike are left still with the tension to which she does not abide.