Over the years, I have grown very curious about archetypal stories and myths that run deep through a culture. By myths, I mean stories like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid which are some of the ones that I was introduced to in school. There is something about how these stories are passed on through verbal and written storytelling - like a line or thread or connection we share with humanity through time. And I’m amazed at their ability to render lasting imagery and feelings that remain in our consciousness long after experiencing them. This powerful kind of storytelling is one of the reasons I am so drawn to try to express my own experience in art. I think ultimately, art is really about creating connection through deep understanding.

So the peony drawing (really all the drawings in this deck) was inspired by trying to uncover the shared understanding - something beyond time - that we have with the plants and flowers we encounter in life. In this case, I was thinking about how the peony’s name is connected to the ancient Greek mythological healer Paeon, known as a “healer and doctor to the gods”. Paeon appears in Book 5 of the Iliad and “heals” Ares, the god of war who is injured by Diomedes in a fierce battle.

What sort of blows my mind in this story is that Ares is a god - not a mortal human. So what does it mean for someone with immortality to be injured and to need healing? It all feels very BIG to me - a big version of wounding and healing, beyond the physical wounds we are accustomed to seek help for as humans. And Paeon, who in one story I’ve seen, uses the roots of a plant (perhaps the peony?) to cure the wound. The story seems to suggest that even the things that we perceive as immortal or everlasting can die without proper care.

So the peony for me has sort of come to represent ‘healing’ in any and all the dimensions that it is needed. The multitude of petals, overflowing in all directions is a reminder of the complexity and interconnectedness of the wounds and healing and beauty that is possible in our lives - even the kind of healing that happens beyond our physical experience and understanding of the world.