Born in Canada, Naydene Gonella has lived in Antigua for many years. She is one of the island’s most well-known artists with her paintings gracing walls and galleries around the world.
Her most recent exhibition, The Butterfly Project, showcases three unique collections: The Animals of the Chinese Zodiac, Endangered Animals and Pop Icons.
The Butterfly Project symbolises luck, positivity, hope, transformation, change and fleeting beauty, with the ongoing butterfly theme reflected throughout the collections, each embodying a different meaning.
The first collection is a playful exploration of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac, based on a children’s book The Great Race, which tells the story of how the 12 animals were chosen to represent each year. In this collection, the butterflies represent luck and positivity.
The second collection highlights vulnerable and critically endangered animals – a subject close to Naydene’s heart. Here, the butterflies represent hope, transformation and change for these vulnerable and threatened creatures.
The third collection, in which the influence of pop icons takes centre stage, is an ongoing journey of Naydene’s in the study of portraiture. Butterflies represent fleeting beauty and change.