Awakening 2017

Harmonia Rosales made this painting, Awakening, without a date, using the warm tones of watercolor to bring together a grounded earthly sphere and a figure falling from the sky. The texture is amazing, isn't it? Rosales uses a wash of thin, transparent watercolor to create depth and atmosphere, while the figures and wings have more solidity, and the earthy tones of the globe, and the background, feel kind of distressed and aged. Look at the delicate brushwork in the wings, each feather is subtly defined. It's like Rosales is thinking through the act of painting, embracing the fluidity and chance encounters of the medium. The relationship between the figures and the earth, and their connection via the pole in the middle, is so well done. The top figure almost feels as if they are diving into the earth. I can't help but think of William Blake when looking at Rosales work, especially in the way she blends the earthly and ethereal, and her use of watercolor’s unpredictable nature. It is like these artists tap into something ancient, yet totally fresh.