Enlightenment – Original Mixed Media on Archival Paper by Erin McGrath Rieke
About this Artwork
I created Enlightenment in 2021 as an 8 x 10 inch original mixed media work on archival paper as part of what I call the Lotus Project. This piece came from a place of deep introspection, where I was thinking about how fragile and fleeting moments of clarity can be, especially when they arrive in the middle of emotional noise or internal chaos.
As I worked, I allowed the composition to develop intuitively using pastel, acrylic, and ink. I didn’t begin with a fixed plan. Instead, I followed gesture and instinct, letting the surface guide me. Figures began to emerge organically across the paper. They bend, reach, and rise, as if responding to something just outside of view. For me, they reflect the tension between struggle and perseverance, between being lost and suddenly finding a small point of understanding.
I wove fragments of handwritten script through the composition as well. These marks feel like private language to me, almost like thoughts surfacing before they fully form. They interrupt the figures and also hold space for them. Together, the imagery and text became a conversation between body, mind, and memory.
Within the Lotus Project, I explore transformation through presence and repetition, and Enlightenment sits in that space where confusion and awareness briefly overlap. It is not about arriving at certainty. It is about noticing the moment insight begins to form.
Though small in scale, the piece carries a dense, layered surface that rewards close looking. Details reveal themselves slowly, much like the internal process it reflects.
Artwork Details
Artist: Erin McGrath Rieke
Title: Enlightenment
Year Created: 2021
Series: Lotus Project
Medium: Pastel, acrylic, and ink on archival paper
Artwork Size: 8 W x 10 H x 1.5 D in
Frame Size: 16 W x 20 H x 2 D in
Style: Abstract / Contemporary Mixed Media
Subject: Human figures, introspection, transformation, meditation
Original Artwork: One-of-a-kind
Frame: Included
Additional Information
My work in the Lotus Project is rooted in intuitive mark-making and layered abstraction. I use gesture, figure, and handwritten script to explore presence, emotional resonance, and the quiet ways understanding forms over time.
In Enlightenment, I was thinking about those brief, luminous moments when something inside shifts and becomes slightly clearer, even if everything around it is still uncertain. I wanted the surface to hold that tension. That in-between space where awareness is just beginning to surface.
Collecting Original Artwork
My original mixed media works on paper combine expressive abstraction, layered materials, and emotional narrative through an intuitive process. Each piece is created by hand as a one-of-a-kind artwork shaped by reflection, gesture, and lived experience.
Enlightenment – Original Mixed Media on Archival Paper by Erin McGrath Rieke
About this Artwork
I created Enlightenment in 2021 as an 8 x 10 inch original mixed media work on archival paper as part of what I call the Lotus Project. This piece came from a place of deep introspection, where I was thinking about how fragile and fleeting moments of clarity can be, especially when they arrive in the middle of emotional noise or internal chaos.
As I worked, I allowed the composition to develop intuitively using pastel, acrylic, and ink. I didn’t begin with a fixed plan. Instead, I followed gesture and instinct, letting the surface guide me. Figures began to emerge organically across the paper. They bend, reach, and rise, as if responding to something just outside of view. For me, they reflect the tension between struggle and perseverance, between being lost and suddenly finding a small point of understanding.
I wove fragments of handwritten script through the composition as well. These marks feel like private language to me, almost like thoughts surfacing before they fully form. They interrupt the figures and also hold space for them. Together, the imagery and text became a conversation between body, mind, and memory.
Within the Lotus Project, I explore transformation through presence and repetition, and Enlightenment sits in that space where confusion and awareness briefly overlap. It is not about arriving at certainty. It is about noticing the moment insight begins to form.
Though small in scale, the piece carries a dense, layered surface that rewards close looking. Details reveal themselves slowly, much like the internal process it reflects.
Artwork Details
Artist: Erin McGrath Rieke
Title: Enlightenment
Year Created: 2021
Series: Lotus Project
Medium: Pastel, acrylic, and ink on archival paper
Artwork Size: 8 W x 10 H x 1.5 D in
Frame Size: 16 W x 20 H x 2 D in
Style: Abstract / Contemporary Mixed Media
Subject: Human figures, introspection, transformation, meditation
Original Artwork: One-of-a-kind
Frame: Included
Additional Information
My work in the Lotus Project is rooted in intuitive mark-making and layered abstraction. I use gesture, figure, and handwritten script to explore presence, emotional resonance, and the quiet ways understanding forms over time.
In Enlightenment, I was thinking about those brief, luminous moments when something inside shifts and becomes slightly clearer, even if everything around it is still uncertain. I wanted the surface to hold that tension. That in-between space where awareness is just beginning to surface.
Collecting Original Artwork
My original mixed media works on paper combine expressive abstraction, layered materials, and emotional narrative through an intuitive process. Each piece is created by hand as a one-of-a-kind artwork shaped by reflection, gesture, and lived experience.
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