"Mourning Cloak Over Tickfaw" (2025)

WiL Vélez, Mourning Cloak Over Tickfaw, 2025.

acrylic on cradled wood panel

24H x 17.88W x 1.5D in (60.96 x 45.17 x 3.81 cm) 

Mourning Cloak Over Tickfaw (2025) is the second completed painting in an ongoing series titled Winged Rivers, which explores the poetic intersections between Louisiana and Mississippi’s river systems and the wing structures of native butterflies. By weaving aerial waterways into wing patterns, the series transforms maps into metaphors—expressing balance, fragility, and transformation within the region’s natural ecology.

In this piece, an aerial view of the Tickfaw River has been flipped and reversed, then integrated into the intricate wing structures of Mourning Cloak butterflies. The result is an abstract fusion of natural elements, blending geography with the delicate symmetry of native pollinators.

This is a unique, original artwork. Its image, like all images on this website, is the copyright of ©️WiL Vélez. All rights reserved.