1 - Candle- Haley Kerrigan

18"x30" Oil on canvas

I create abstract oil paintings that investigate themes of desire, emotions, grief and relationships. My process starts with constructing layered compositions using source imagery of my own body, historical references, archived photographs, and building dioramas. I highlight the complexities within intimate scenes by cropping and emphasizing the small, nuanced moments. Through deliberate choices to either render or simplify an area, I create ambiguity, leaving viewers wondering whether the scene is romantic or violent, passionate or destructive. 

Fire embodies both passionate desire and destructive power. The gradual melting of wax mirrors the transformation that comes with following passions, requiring patience and resilience. Passion offers both beauty and chaos. The soft glow of a candle symbolizes the sensual allure and the false sense of safety, in contrast to an uncontrolled flame that may lead to unintended consequences. 

The background of the candles is intertwined with water, symbolizing a boundless expanse of an ocean, mirroring the depths of emotion.  The ocean acts as a mirror, reflecting a space of beauty and mystery, and conscious and unconscious desires.

By using the candle as a controlled vessel of fire and the background of an ocean, I explore the interplay between desire and its aftermath. The act of painting itself becomes a metaphor for passion and destruction. It is an exchange, a flow with no definitive conclusion, a fleeting emotion, an insatiable love affair linked with moments of grief and letting go.