Animarii Unzipped No.10: The Panther — The One Who Was Built for the Dark · Original Oil Painting

Mixed media and oil on gallery canvas · Hand-applied gold metal foil · Purple foil eyes · Hand-textured zipper section · 16x20”

She isn’t snarling from fear. She is announcing herself.

The Panther moves through darkness the way others move through daylight — completely, without hesitation, without needing to see in advance where she is going. In shamanic traditions across the Americas she is the guardian of the unseen world, the one who travels between what is visible and what is not. She does not fear the shadow. She was made from it.

In this painting she emerges roaring from a cosmic haze of pink and violet, a golden disco sun blazing behind her crown, purple-foiled eyes burning with a light that belongs to no ordinary spectrum. She is not asking permission to exist at full volume. She never has.

Below, a genuine metal zipper creates the illusion of the world peeling back — frozen at the moment of reveal — deep purple built up in layers beneath the seam, gold foil tracing kintsugi-like cracks through the texture, the dark world below giving way to reveal what it has always contained.

Gallery canvas, 1.5” deep, sold unframed. No frame required — deep canvases are designed to hang as they are, though framing is always an option if you prefer. Ships with pre-installed D-rings, heavy-duty picture wire, and wall hook — ready to hang on arrival.

Every original ships hand-signed by the artist and includes a proof of purchase.

Each painting is varnished to order. Please allow 7–10 days for shipping. Contact me for expedited requests.