Bright Star

Eco Print Painting with Mixed Media

In Bright Star, chaos becomes divine feminine radiance. Named after John Keats' immortal poem of eternal watching, this luminous work captures what the Romantic poet could only yearn for - the transformation from longing into embodied light.

The artist begins with surrender. Henna, pomegranate, and crepe myrtle flowers are scattered across canvas in deliberate disorder, then steam-printed to release their botanical essence. No plan guides the placement. No preconception dictates the outcome. This is creation through chaos - a visual echo of Nietzsche's declaration that we must have chaos within us to birth a dancing star.

Through successive layers of eco printing and soft pastel embellishment, a glowing figure emerges. She reclines in golden hour light, her flowing blue hair merging with the earth beneath her. Flowers cascade down like celestial blessings while a mystical tree appears to download wisdom from heaven to earth. That tree - neither fully rooted nor fully ethereal - becomes a conduit, channeling divine knowledge into the material world.

The luminous woman at the painting's heart embodies what Keats desperately sought: to be "steadfast" like the bright star, to watch over love eternally without the ache of mortality. But where Keats experienced tortured yearning, she has found peace. She glows from within, vulnerable yet invincible, grounded yet transcendent.

This work speaks to our current moment - a world saturated with chaos, uncertainty, and darkness. Yet the artist reminds us: the deepest darkness makes our candlelight brighter. Bright Star is not an escape from chaos but a meditation on transmuting it. She is proof that disorder can birth beauty, that our luminous selves emerge not despite chaos, but through it.

The botanical imprints - permanent marks left by temporary blooms - become metaphors for how fleeting moments of beauty leave eternal impressions. The soft pastels layered atop these prints add dimension and glow, as if the figure emanates her own light source rather than merely reflecting it.

Bright Star invites sustained contemplation. The longer one looks, the more details emerge: hidden botanical patterns, subtle gradations of golden light, the way the figure seems both grounded in earth and elevated by divine presence. She is the dancing star born from chaos. She is the steadfast watcher Keats dreamed of becoming. She is the reminder that we all carry this luminous potential within us.

Materials: Eco printing with henna, pomegranate, crepe myrtle flowers on canvas. Embellished with soft pastels and mixed media.

Exhibition: Solo Exhibitionby Dharshi de Silva at Mystik River Gallery, Melbourne

Dates: 5 December 2025 - 8 February 2026