Onward

Onward, 60x72”, 2021

Lundberg was challenged with creating a visual representation of her client’s life journey. She received an assortment of photographs from her client’s childhood, adolescence and young adulthood and was given creative freedom to use one of the images in the painting to tell his story. After learning about his story of losing two mother figures during his childhood and becoming independent at a young age, Lundberg wanted to create a piece about growth and spiritual guidance. Her client also tasked her with incorporating a Bison, his college mascot, into the painting as well. Lundberg chose one of her client’s childhood images, a side profile of him walking. Inspired by the ten ox herding steps to enlightenment in Zen Buddhism, Lundberg referenced step number 5, taming the ox, an image of a little boy leading the ox. The top of this painting references the architectural Calatrava ceiling at the Milwaukee art museum. Lundberg’s pairing of architectural an ceiling above a nature scene is meant to depict multiple dimensions, such as heaven. Hidden in the painting are two doves representing his two mothers, one is located on the back of the bison while the other is in the sky leading the boy. The gold circle around the boy references the zen ox herding step number 8, the transcendence. This piece honors my client’s unique journey and the tenacity he’s shown ever since his childhood.