Something happened when you saw this. What was it?
Ephemeral Atmosphere · 2020
DNA on Fire
The Burning Code of Transformation
Available · in the studio, Phoenix
The code of life combusting — DNA as the most personal fire, burning that transforms at the level you can't see.
DNA on Fire (2020) is part of my Ephemeral Atmosphere Collection, painted during a moment of profound questioning about identity, transformation, and the invisible codes that shape us. This 48 x 48 inch acrylic on canvas ignites these themes into a vivid visual dialogue — a strand of DNA not as scientific blueprint, but as a fiery, living thread of emotion and change.
The painting pulses with layers of molten reds, electric yellows, and vibrant blues, arranged in gestural, spiral-like formations that both reference and distort the iconic double helix. The marks are urgent, layered, and raw, suggesting a code in flux, a system unraveling and rewriting itself.
In this work, I found a kinship with Julie Mehretu, whose monumental abstractions chart chaos, tension, and shifting systems through layered marks and fractured compositions. Like Mehretu, I see abstraction as a way to map the invisible — the systems of biology, culture, and personal narrative that constantly collide and mutate.
DNA on Fire is not about destruction alone. The fire becomes a symbol of renewal, of the possibility inherent in collapse. The painting captures the tension of transformation — the burning away of old narratives, the emergence of something unknown and urgent.
As part of the Ephemeral Atmosphere Collection, this work stands as a metaphor for 2020 itself — a year where the personal and the collective underwent mutations, revealing the fragile, combustible codes beneath our identities.
Where to see it. In person at RituStudio, Phoenix, by appointment. Represented by Jarrow & Goodman, Los Angeles.
The space it needs
- Wall
- At least 5 ft wide
- Ceiling
- 8 ft or more
- Light
- Natural light transforms this work — morning and evening light read differently
- Daylight
- Espresso brown and cadmium red warm considerably under west light, and the smooth surface offers no texture to break the sun. A north or east wall keeps the dark code readable.
Lives best in
Living room 5/5
DNA on Fire earns its full score here because the cadmium red thread burning through espresso brown and near black demands the kind of sustained, returning attention that only a lived-in room provides.
Bedroom 4/5
The longing coded into its near-black and warm gray ground makes this surprisingly right for a bedroom, though the cadmium red carries enough combustion that light-sensitive sleepers should hang it on a wall that receives no direct morning sun.
Details
- Size
- 4 × 4 ft (W × H)
- Medium
- Acrylic on canvas
- Year
- 2020
- Collection
- Ephemeral Atmosphere
- Palette
- Espresso Brown · Near Black · Warm Gray · Indigo · Cadmium Red
- Weight
- About 22 lb
- Ready
- In the studio; delivery 6–10 weeks
Its ArtGram
ArtGram.Fork
- Texture1
- Form1
- Colour range2
- Palette2.9
- Contrast3.2
- Abstraction Quotient4.5
