At the apex of this work, a classical structure adorned with ancient Egyptian motifs and hieroglyphics, Cortright has placed a pole dancer in mid motion, merging elements of ancient and contemporary cultures and creating a space in which time exists in multiple idioms. The lush jungle and aquatic landscapes that fill the work’s upper and lower registers are timeless, able to exist in any era, while the human and architectural elements of the work conjure specific references to worlds both past and present, augmenting the digital painting’s magical realist sensibilities, which allow the sky to exist below land at the horizon line.

OPHELIA is a digital painting on hot press rag paper mounted on dibond.

Petra Cortright (b. 1986 in Santa Barbara, California) has exhibited both nationally and internationally at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, Whitechapel Gallery, London, Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & Medien, Austria, and the Venice Biennale, Italy. Her work is held in the permanent collections of MOCA Los Angeles, MCA Chicago, and Kadist, Paris, among others.