Iridescence barthélemy

Signed
Unique 1 of 1
24kt gold on Engraved iridescent acrylic
Ambrosia maple wood frame
4.4 kg        74 x 62 x 7.5 cm
9.6 lb          29 x 24.5 x 3 in

This artwork is inspired by the natural beauty and spirit of Saint Barthélemy, a Caribbean island where turquoise waters meet golden light. Often recalled as the "billionaire's Island" the piece explores the illusion of paradise, that fleeting intersection between permanence and transience.

The island, rendered in gold, evokes the human desire to preserve beauty, to fix the shimmer of a perfect moment in time. Yet the iridescent sea beneath it resists stillness, shifting between memory and light breeze. 

In this tension between solidity and fluidity lies a quiet question: is paradise something we can hold, or only something we recall as it drifts away?  Is paradise a place we can touch, or the trace of a feeling that refuses to stay...

Few places on earth truly feel like paradise, yet Saint Barthélemy carries that rare illusion with effortless grace. It is a landscape where nature and luxury intertwine so completely that one cannot tell where the island ends and the dream begins. In Irridescence Barthelémy, this sense of unreachable perfection is both celebrated and questioned.

I was always told paradise was something gained after death, a distant reward, a promise in exchange for faith, repentance, forgiveness, love, and virtue. But standing on this island, surrounded by gold and light, I began to wonder: how did we cheat the code? How did we find heaven while still breathing, walking, wanting? Perhaps Saint Barthélemy is proof that paradise was never meant to be found elsewhere, but within ourselves.

If it takes all of this for the wealthy to grasp paradise, what does it say about us? About what we chase, what we build, what we believe beauty must cost? Perhaps the tragedy isn’t that paradise feels unattainable, but that we’ve confused it with possession. If the bliss of Saint Barthélemy can be bought, then maybe what we’re really seeking isn’t heaven, but proof that we’ve touched it, even if only through illusion.