Amarylis

1980 – Present

Not long after she began the EBA School of Art, Badgley Arnoux began to paint amaryllis flowers. This flower signifies rebirth, and the potential and resilience of nature in the face of all odds. It records the cycle from dormant winter through spring and the summer ascent to autumnal decline.

Beginning in 1995 Badgley Arnoux combined the bold lines of the Chief’s Blankets motif with the large amaryllis flower. For the series of about 20 works on paper, Arnoux sometimes added fabric strips to the surface and, for a small series of three paintings in 1998, called Bloom: Under and Over: she applied chicken wire. In 1998 Arnoux created a group of four large oil on canvas paintings that depict the amaryllis bulb in its various stages of life. The background of these paintings–Fallow Winter/Bulb Beginning, Breaking/Spring, Bursting/Summer, Decline/Fall–are dramatic, with horizontal stripes that evolve from dark to light.

Later, as Badgley Arnoux continued working with the shopping cart, she added a flowering amaryllis. Here the cart is being pushed by a rat named Joey, who symbolizes pride, resilience, and inventiveness. Titled Joey, Pushing Forward, Reaching Out: dedicated to Gavin Newsom’s Care Not Cash, Project Outreach (2004), this piece is a reminder of the significance of perseverance in the face of adversity.