Touch the Stars

“My words are found in broken hills and blazing forests. Never meet me there. Ignore my fate. I am more than the sum of my parts.

I want to walk where goodness lives, away from murky spaces. To relish in the simple things of life once taken for granted. Tell my body to heal.

Then let me dance with you in my dreams away from prying eyes. We will escape the confines of this world and touch the stars”.

- Dezzie Grant

Touch the Stars was painted last year and was inspired by a free verse poem I wrote in 2023 of the same name. The poem reflects exactly where my headspace was at the time. Life is a journey, the good and the bittersweet.

I pulled out elements from words in the poem to direct the subject matter of the work. I chose a nocturnal theme. It is fractured and disjointed playing into the opening line of broken hills. It is a little bit cubist in style. A person, with their head on a pillow, resting and dreaming. On the horizon are stars shining in the night sky, and a semi obscured moon. A blanket of flowers are juxtaposed bright and bold against a nocturnal landscape.

Many layers of paint were applied to the surface for this piece. I needed the layering of paint to develop the journey in my mind. Over time the structure developed and emerged of its own accord. Paint pens were used in key areas like the crosshatching in white used to represent fabric. A woolen blanket is defined by its edging in green. You will see erratic green edges cradling and defining flowers.

For the night sky I lightly splattered white paint to give the impression of stars at night. The dry brush scumbling of some surfaces gives the sense of moonlight catching on surfaces.