Original artwork description:

"Lusus Naturae" is an expression used by scientists during the 16th-17th centuries to describe a phenomenon that didn't follow the Nature's rules. The expression wasn't used in a positive way: it evokes us something unsettling, distant and repulsive. Even the modern use of the term ("Freak of nature") has negative implications. Nevertheless, this girl too could be described as a Lusus Naturae: she's an hybrid between a woman and a plant, from her head sprout many twigs which form a miniature forest that protects a quenchless flame. As a matter of facts, the 16th century's scholars considered fossils as a Lusus Naturae too, just because they couldn't collocate them with any known species.

Materials used:

Acrylics, gesso, canvas