This painting is called Symphony, and the whole essence of it symbolizes how powerful sound and frequency are in our soul, in our embodiment as human beings.

There’s a small detail in the painting that I haven’t really told anyone about. It’s her necklace. This one is a ring that was passed down from my grandfather in Lithuania. He was a musician, a musical and theatrical director, and a profound poet. My mother told me stories about how he was able to reverberate throughout the whole stage. His presence, his voice, the way his musical instruments delivered something so powerful. I wanted to add that little note into this painting.

Another one that was quite fascinating is when I had the inspiration. I had no idea the exact features of the model that I wanted to paint, but I thought, “My goodness, I think I know somebody.” It was one of my great, great friends who is also my neighbor. She was able to model for me on this painting.

The whole idea was that I wanted to incorporate that confidence. The kind that only really drives deep down and is only able to shine through when you are on a rare spotlight. She had just recently picked up a musical instrument. She was very shy about it at first. I said, “No, I need to see that confidence.” She was in that zone and she found that confidence in the way she presented it to me. She told me she’s never felt that before. She’s never felt the way she was in that moment. That’s when I captured her, when she was playing that piece.

If you notice closely, some of the spotlights in the background have very distinct horizontal lines. That really corresponds to two things: the lights that are on the stage, but also the way the light is able to move and dance with the frequency that is being emitted. That is the reason why I wanted to really showcase it in this sentence: Sound is a miracle.

I feel that we really have to understand the importance of what we hear and how we speak, how we project ourselves. That really is important. That feeling when you meet someone, that good connection or that music that gives you those goosebumps around your hands—that is life-changing without you even realizing it, because it’s in your core and it’s recorded. That’s how powerful I thought it was. That’s why I wanted to paint the Symphony.

I love fabrics. I love textures. From the very beginning, when I was on the hip of my mama, I would touch everything around the store, around the house. Texture is so important to me. I think it’s because of my experiences that it’s so clear to me, so vivid, that I’m able to capture it because I want to feel it too.

How I’m able to achieve that look, I really made the distinction to create those really vivid lines first. And I have to create an oval, round effect for the creases and have that little highlight. My favorite part is getting a dry brush and drawing it in between, then creating the fabric with the little threads inside that. There are layers to that to create that transparency, but I think fabrics is one of my favorite things to paint because I could just dive so deep and get lost in it.