Nor a thorn, nor a threat stain her beauty bright
Location: Savoir Faire
ARTIST: Michelle Henry
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas
SIZE: 61 x 61cm
ABOUT THE ARTWORK:
The lily is regarded as the symbol of sublime love. The title of this painting comes from Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience and, in fact, refers to a white lily. In this case, with the red flower (the Asiatic Lilium, “Original Love”), the innocence is lost, and the lily had been stained blood-red. My paintings explore themes of love, lust and longing as intrinsic to the human condition, most often using the flower as a metaphor. The evocative titles are from literary sources as diverse as the Bible, ancient Greek and Indian poetry, published love letters or Shakespeare.
Value: $950AUD | Reserve: $600AUD
Michelle Henry is an artist and teacher who has taught at private and public schools in both Sydney and Brisbane. She has been teaching Visual Arts part time at Mosman High School since 2018.
Michelle has been exhibiting her work regularly since 2014 and is currently a resident artist at Art Gallery on Palm Beach.
In 2020 Michelle was awarded the Inverell Art Prize and the Greenway Art Packer’s Prize. Her work is in collections in Australia and internationally has been shortlisted for national competitions across Australia, including the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, and The Mosman Art Prize.