“Perhaps seldom few of us become what we expect to be.”
—FAYBEL, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine artist directory blog post

Growing up, I was consumed by the concept of the “ideal” plan—of what I perceived to be an esteemed path to recognition and success. Nothing about this flawed notion brought me happiness, nor did it reflect my personal potential and the growing limitations of my physical reality with chronic illness.

Stifling my own creativity and its ability to foster joy, for the sake of false self-image and a misguided sense of purpose, one that flippantly sated my fears of self-perceived in-accomplishment—it took years of spiraling physical health before I could understand how wrong my false notion of the “ideal” had been and how wrong I was in the act of dampening my creative self.

“Dancing with Wolves” is an allegory on the pack of tumultuous tides within, some predatory to our own happiness and joy, with false faces and dark internal realities.

The archetypal wolf from the Grimm Brothers’ recount of Little Red Riding Hood makes its vicious play with Ancient Egyptian motifs and symbology, autumnal fine bone china teacup patterns and mask designs of kitsune, the shapeshifting fox spirits of Japanese folklore, in “Dancing with Wolves”. Inspirational notes from No-Face of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away interplay with references to monochrome illustrations by Rovina Cai from Alix E. Harrow’s Starling House; the Japanese television series The Ancient Magnus’ Bride, adapted from the original manga by Kore Yamazaki; and the traditional oil works of Vanessa Lemen. This piece was fashioned in over hundreds of hours, in the supine position, due to spinal injury, with intent to mimic key visual motifs from my prior works, High Art Competition’s 2025 Top 150, “Many Faces of the Dreamer” and Japanese ink painting (sumi-e) styled “The Never Queen”, a part of Curio Art Gallery’s 2024 group exhibition, "Memoir".

“Dancing with Wolves” acts as an inaugural piece for the digital medium at Poetic Tiger Gallery (online), during a time in which the perception of digital in fine art is voraciously tested, in part by the overwhelming presence of A.I. generative technologies.