Peonies

Title: Peonies

Technique: Oil

Support: Primed cardboard

Measurements: 40 x 30 cm. Date of completion: June 2024

"Peonies." It's my favorite flower. In fact, in this self-portrait, I represent elements that evoke the Al Andalus dance:

The flowers, which please the eye and the nose. Peonies in particular have a very soft and intoxicating fragrance, and at the same time, they have a pastel color that seems to speak of this feeling of Arabic platonic love.

The earrings were also a gift from another dancer, Lenna Beauty, when I visited her in Fortaleza, Brazil.

During my visit, Lenna told me that the Jewish and Muslim diaspora had arrived in the city after the expulsion of the Catholic Monarchs.

Somehow, in the portrait, I cease to be myself and become someone who lived in those times, enjoying the music, the smell of the flowers in the Arabian gardens, and the ornaments with organic motifs.