Amy Lyn
Amy Lyn
The concept of death or the mystery of what happens after death invokes a sense of fear into many people. The thing is there is no life without death and death is very much a part of life. The idea behind my work was derived from several different concepts. My hope with this series is to reverse our negative feelings towards what happens next.
The first concept that inspired my work was the idea of after death communication or ADC which is a spiritual connection that happens after someone has deceased. After posting my unusual experience with a butterfly on social media, a friend told me to investigate ADC and that the butterfly could have been my father’s spirit communicating with me. My father’s remains had been spread in the ocean the season prior, and my son and I just so happened to be sitting by the ocean when this butterfly encounter took place, so this really hit home for me. Butterflies are common symbols for ADC, so I used a butterfly in my work as a symbolic reference to after death communication.
The second concept for my work is my attraction to the day of the dead or Día De Los Muertos. This holiday, traditionally celebrated in Mexico was a day to celebrate the dead or a day for prayer and remembrance of lost loved friends and family. The vibrant colors in the art, sugar- skull painted faces, decorations and elaborate clothing are a great representation of the connection between life and the afterlife. Within my work I chose vibrant colors for the plates to represent the afterlife with the expectation that death will be the beginning. I chose black and white for the prints representing our living state with all our worldly pain and struggles within this life.
The final concept is the idea of making the butterflies 3D creating their bodies to symbolize the axis mundi between life and the afterlife. The idea or perception of the axis mundi is a point of connection between heaven and earth, sky and earth, or where the four points of the compass meet. It has very powerful meaning and can be found everywhere from the human form to the Tree of Life.
Unfortunately death is unfathomable. It will happen to everyone at some point but by perceiving it as the next step to forever, a new beginning or even a chance to see someone from your past, then we can embrace it and thus celebrate it. We can then look forward to a life after death!
Change
Life
Hope
Transformation
Endurance
Resurrection
Change
Life
Hope
Transformation
Endurance
Resurrection
The concept of death or the mystery of what happens after death invokes a sense of fear into many people. The thing is there is no life without death and death is very much a part of life. The idea behind my work was derived from several different concepts. My hope with this series is to reverse our negative feelings towards what happens next.
The first concept that inspired my work was the idea of after death communication or ADC which is a spiritual connection that happens after someone has deceased. After posting my unusual experience with a butterfly on social media, a friend told me to investigate ADC and that the butterfly could have been my father’s spirit communicating with me. My father’s remains had been spread in the ocean the season prior, and my son and I just so happened to be sitting by the ocean when this butterfly encounter took place, so this really hit home for me. Butterflies are common symbols for ADC, so I used a butterfly in my work as a symbolic reference to after death communication.
The second concept for my work is my attraction to the day of the dead or Día De Los Muertos. This holiday, traditionally celebrated in Mexico was a day to celebrate the dead or a day for prayer and remembrance of lost loved friends and family. The vibrant colors in the art, sugar- skull painted faces, decorations and elaborate clothing are a great representation of the connection between life and the afterlife. Within my work I chose vibrant colors for the plates to represent the afterlife with the expectation that death will be the beginning. I chose black and white for the prints representing our living state with all our worldly pain and struggles within this life.
The final concept is the idea of making the butterflies 3D creating their bodies to symbolize the axis mundi between life and the afterlife. The idea or perception of the axis mundi is a point of connection between heaven and earth, sky and earth, or where the four points of the compass meet. It has very powerful meaning and can be found everywhere from the human form to the Tree of Life.
Unfortunately death is unfathomable. It will happen to everyone at some point but by perceiving it as the next step to forever, a new beginning or even a chance to see someone from your past, then we can embrace it and thus celebrate it. We can then look forward to a life after death!