Crown Shyness, 2023

tie-dye and acrylic on hemp canvas

58 x 34 in 

Collaboration between Kai Liguori (@kaisarting on instagram) and Mayah Pico. I (Mayah) tie-dyed the hemp canvas and Kai painted the foliage onto the dyed canvas. The original piece is 58 x 70 in, but when Kai and I parted ways after creating the piece, we cut it and each took a half.

This project was inspired by the vision of looking upwards into a canopy of trees. The term ‘crown shyness’ refers to a natural phenomenon in which the crowns of trees steer clear of one another just enough for sunlight to shine through river-like channels of space in the canopy.

Yet, aside from the literal meaning of this term, there is a figurative phenomena I felt called to explore. The phenomena understands ‘crown shyness’ as a protective mechanism that we as humans tend to employ when , in close proximity to our own success or potential, we are struck with unease. We may even ask ourselves if we are deserving of the greatness we once envisioned once the envisionment starts to make its way into our reality. In this sense ‘crown shyness’ is the struggle to embrace that which is destined for us due to internally or externally enforced limiting beliefs that may be ancestrally, culturally, sociologically, or psychologically informed.