Title: Healer, (Nick Cave)

Date: 2021

Description: The portrait depicts a young Nick Cave and is part of my doctoral dissertation. He is shown in profile. He is looking towards the light. It is a symbol of love that conquers death. I see him as a healer because he transformed suffering after the tragic death of his 15-year-old son Arthur. He expressed this on the album Skeleton Tree. Cave creates the genealogy of my female lineage because the feminine element belongs to every being, regardless of gender and species. In Cave’s creative attitude, it manifests very clearly in the ability to experience and transform difficult emotions. The musician’s exposed ear indicates listening and receiving (the feminine aspect). Cave’s left eyebrow forms an arch in the color of red clay. This watery symbol signals the presence of the goddess’s regenerative power.

Technique, dimension: oil on canvas, 65 × 55 cm

First showing: 2023, Pałac Czapskich Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw

Ownership: Monika Waraxa