Elope

Medium: Pastel on Paper
Size: 2.3ft x 1.6ft
Creation Date: 2024
Collection: Playful Abstraction

Elope (2024) is a whisper — a dream of departure, of sudden softness, of choosing feeling over reason. This 27 x 19 inch pastel painting from the Playful Abstraction Collection evokes the sensation of slipping away — not from something, but into something unknown and necessary.

The surface is a cloud of pinks, creams, and peach, layered with sheer strokes and diffused edges. Beneath these gentle tones, hints of bolder reds and burnt sienna peek through — like memory pressing against the present. There is no line, no form. Just a gentle pull, a blooming quiet.

I painted Elope in a moment of emotional exhaustion — when clarity could only come through distance. This work is not about running. It’s about release. Escape as a form of self-rescue.

The painting recalls the atmospheric palettes of Cy Twombly and the lightness of Etel Adnan, whose color fields carry the tone of thought. But Elope is more intimate. It invites surrender, solitude, and softness.

This is not a loud painting. It doesn’t need to be. It offers space — not for answers, but for breath.