Rags to Riches - Cinderella Story
The Story Unfolds…
This piece is my ode to transformation. Rags to Riches – Cinderella Story, began as a wild experiment in texture and layering - a way to physically express the shift from hidden worth to empowered beauty. I started with a raw, expressive abstract painting that I later chose to bury, repaint, stitch into, and sculpt from. What emerged felt like a resurrection - fragile, powerful, and deeply feminine.
I painted over the original with layers of stark white and titanium buff, as if silencing her story - just as we’re often taught to quiet our own. That act of covering up was emotional. It felt like shame and rebirth at once.
Then came the drama - bold black strokes, torn fabric, rough textures. I scorched the muslin, hardened some sections with fabric stiffener, and left others soft and flowing. It became a study in contrast: strength and softness, control and chaos.
This wasn’t a gentle transformation - it was a fight to be seen.
As I pulled, threaded, stitched, and twisted yarns and silk fibres through the fabric, the work took on a life of its own. It began to look like a dress - or perhaps armour. Not delicate, but deliberate.
This is no fairytale princess. She is a woman who’s walked through fire in slippers made of ash.
Displayed in a calm, neutral setting, Cinderella becomes even more striking. The tension between fragility and fierceness demands attention - a statement of reclamation, and proof that art, like people, can be broken and still beautiful.
• Medium: Mixed media on canvas (acrylic, textile, silk, wool, muslin, cotton, fabric stiffener, textured paste)
• Size: 100cm x 80cm
• Year: 2023
• Signed by the artist and includes a certificate of authenticity.
• The artist retains the copyright of the piece.
• The paint and paste were finished with archival varnish for longevity, before the addition of the fabrics and yarns.