Butterfly of the Aegean - 80 x 100 x 5 cm

Mixed Media (Acrylics) on canvas. Finished with a professional satin varnish. Comes ready to hang.

‘Butterfly of the Aegean’ was inspired by Astypalaia - the butterfly-shaped island of the Aegean - and by its striking meeting of deep blue water and warm, rugged earth.

The painting seems to shift perspective: At one moment, you may feel as though you are entering a sea cave; at another, floating within the water or looking down at the Aegean from above. The flow of blue is interrupted by an earthy form, almost like a glitch in the landscape - or the reddish-brown land cutting through the sea.

Copper-coloured textures recall the island’s red cliffs and bring a tactile sense of earth and warmth into the composition.

At its core, ‘Butterfly of the Aegean’ is about freedom and grounding, but also about perspective. Sometimes clarity comes from moving closer and noticing what is directly in front of us; at other times, we need distance to understand the bigger picture. The painting holds both experiences at once; Immersion and overview, openness and something solid beneath it.

It invites the viewer to shift between these perspectives, to get lost in the details and then step back again, discovering how differently something can appear depending on where we stand.