Artist Depicts Transformative Nature of Death in Visionary Paintings

“Wisdom of the Ages”
(Credit: autumnskyemorrison.com)

Autumn Skye Morrison has been called a visionary artist, but it could just as easily be said that she simply sees the bigger picture of our time on Earth. Her paintings are saturated with themes of birth, death and transformation, finding a luminous mystery behind human suffering. In “Wisdom of the Ages”, we see clearly how this universal life-cycle pattern of becoming is reflected in a multi-generational relationship of reciprocity where each stage is valued. The painting “Homage” is also an elegant example of this perspective. We see the bones of a fish springing back to life as it enters the water, reminding us that every ending is also a beginning. The translucent human hands through which we see bone visually binds human life to this same cycle, and to the life cycles of all other beings with whom we share our planet.

“Homage”
(Credit: autumnskyemorrison.com)

It is useful to keep this viewpoint in mind when witnessing collective suffering. In “Mourning Due,” Morrison mourns the ecological hardship brought upon the Earth and ourselves though our species’ collective greed and lack of connection to the planet that sustains our lives. Here, Morrison seems to suggest that our grief is a wake up call as well as the medicine that will heal our world. This is a particularly productive message considering that the economy of so-called “First World” countries has been driven by mental acuity and emotional neutrality as opposed to a feeling, reciprocal relationship between humans and our planet’s natural resources. To grieve well is to survive. Failure to grieve is to condemn our entire species to extinction. We are being called into urgent collective mourning which, at this point in history, is quite overdue.

“Mourning Due”
(Credit: autumnskyemorrison.com)

While Morrison’s paintings are as conceptually vast and beautiful as they are challenging, she doesn’t neglect to address the highly personal experience of grief, loss and groundlessness. In “Faith,” we can relate to the young woman’s feelings of hopelessness, isolation and childhood fear symbolized by the red wagon. And yet, we can also relate to knowing that there is another side, another perspective, and a more easeful way of journeying through our shadows, as depicted by the small birds.

“Faith”
(Credit: autumnskyemorrison.com)

Through her heartfelt and meticulously detailed works, Morrison encourages us to see the world clearly, unflinching in our ability to witness it; to love it; to grieve what ends; and to cherish it ever more deeply both because it is valuable, and because it won’t last forever. When the human heart breaks, it breaks open to its capacity to love. Morrison’s paintings are the guide and evidence of our personal and collective potential to wake up through grief and, enriched by that experience, to create a more beautiful world.