The Daffodil Lament

This is a series of 21 paintings that I hope will attract the attention of an international gallery for a solo exhibition beyond Romania’s borders. The series is called “The Daffodil Lament” and is dedicated to an extraordinary singer, the lead vocalist of The Cranberries.

Dolores O’Riordan, a tormented soul with an unmistakable voice, often used music to process personal trauma and, sadly, endured more than her share throughout her short life — from childhood sexual abuse to depression, abandonment syndrome, bipolar disorder, schizophrenic tendencies, all amplified by episodes of alcohol and drug abuse.

Dolores shaped my adolescence in the 1990s and, in truth, the souls of millions of people through her strange songs — bitter-sweet or furious, depressive or naïve. Many of you know her only through the famous “Zombie”, but Dolores was infinitely more than that. She was an emotional multiverse.

The 21 paintings, a reference to the song “Twenty One”, aim to create an artistic visual projection of the fragility of the human mind — conceptual personifications of mental illnesses, if you will. Have you ever wondered what depression or abandonment might look like? I will show you how I see them throughout these 21 canvases.

Through this artistic exercise, I pay tribute to this exceptional artist, as an obsessive reminder of our emotional fragility. Many of us hide it in shame, many refuse to seek comfort within ourselves or from others. Dolores managed to row through life for a while thanks to her songs, until her “boat” finally sank in a bathtub in a hotel room.