Ingrid van Amsterdam
Releasing the Dragon, 2025
acrylic on recycled framed canvas
60 (h) x 70 (w) x 3.5 (d) cm

A well-needed break over Easter meant I was able to reflect on my past, what my ‘dragon’ is, and what I would love my future life to look like: authentic and completely true to myself.

The original painting underneath this one was an old painting by my artist aunt Josina van Amsterdam. It had been sitting around at my place for some years and when she visited me she suggested to paint over it. I had considered painting over other works before but had never done this. The fact that Josina allowed me to do this felt like I was going back to my roots, as much as opening a new door: merging my past into the future moulded by my intuitive creator self.

I was in my element while following the flow of the brush on the old canvas left in its wooden frame which, unapologetically, I did not avoid while painting on the canvas. To touch up the slightly damaged frame I was excited to see that I had managed to create the exact same colour of the frame by mixing cool red, pyrrole red, and permanent sap green.

As if the Dragon that had been asleep, my inner self was woken up and released to transform into a beautiful form appearing through some kind of cloud ready to unfold its wings, or to start blossoming when the time was right. A rebirth of sorts (it is not too late)! I am evolving in my metamorphic phase.