Description

While the Waves Were Knocking Me Down II continues Jennifer Lee’s exploration of resilience, memory, and the inexorable force of time through the enduring dialogue between rocks and waves. Unlike the first work in the series, this painting is executed on a circular canvas, transforming the familiar seascape into an image that evokes both the Earth viewed from above and the cyclical nature of existence. The powerful waves surge relentlessly against dark coastal rocks, their movement suggesting the emotional currents that repeatedly challenge human life. The rocks stand as symbols of stability and perseverance, while the sea embodies uncertainty, hardship, and the passage of time. Rather than opposing one another, these elements gradually become inseparable, revealing that strength is not found in resisting life’s storms, but in enduring them. Created with oil paint and selective UV-reactive pigments, the work contains an additional visual dimension that emerges under ultraviolet light. The hidden fluorescent passages are not intended as decorative effects, but as metaphors for the invisible emotional forces that persist beneath outward appearances. Just as unseen memories and resilience continue to shape our lives, these concealed layers reveal themselves only under a different light. The circular composition reinforces the idea that life moves in cycles rather than straight lines. Joy and sorrow, hope and despair, resistance and surrender continually return, shaping our existence just as the sea patiently reshapes the shoreline. Dynamic brushwork enhances the vitality of the waves while maintaining a realistic foundation, allowing emotional intensity and unseen perception to coexist. As part of the Origins series, While the Waves Were Knocking Me Down II marks Jennifer Lee’s early integration of UV-reactive pigments into her realist landscapes, foreshadowing her later exploration of visible and invisible realities that would become central to her artistic practice.