Emerging from underground right on my birthday and again seventeen years later, the periodical cicada has remained a mythical figure in my life. My lifelong fascination with the bugs has lent itself to this capstone, where I explore the themes of time and metamorphosis through a visual examination of the life cycle of the 17-year cicada. Each painting uses the cicada’s life cycle as a metaphor to examine my own growth and where I was in similar phases of my life. The paintings incorporate mixed media elements of metal leafing and layers of tissue paper to emphasize the viewer’s understanding of where I was in my personal and artistic journey during the relevant stage of my life cycle. The stylistic elements of the paintings draw inspiration from Art Nouveau and other decorative art movements, which often embody the same natural motifs that are found in these paintings.

I’ve chosen to focus my capstone project on periodical cicadas and their life cycle due to my personal connection with the 17-year brood. As they emerged on my birthday twice during my lifetime, I grew up hearing stories about them and was often fascinated by their life cycle. When they appeared for the second time in my lifetime, I did a lot of self-reflection to examine how I’ve grown and changed as a person and artist during their time underground. I find the cicada to be a perfect way to explore this self-reflection more visually, both looking back on my changes and metamorphosis until this moment, and looking forward to imagine how I will change and grow until their next emergence.