Like all my works, "Blooming of Venus" is woven with a myriad of symbolism - some universally recognized, but mostly those that I've crafted as a way to depict the inner journey of a woman. Her hand, raised high, blooms and unfolds as a literal representation of all the gifts that come into our lives as a result of self-improvement and self-return. The pomegranate serves as a symbol and ode to fertility, and through it, my attempt to capture all that fertility implies - it's when a woman creates anything, whether she chooses to craft art, music, a garden, a child, a business, or even to sculpt herself anew. The shell is a symbol of rebirth, an idea I've borrowed directly from the Renaissance period, from Botticelli's work "The Birth of Venus", which also inspired the very title of my drawing. In terms of aesthetics, the piece blends vintage Vogue (early last century Vogue covers being the main inspiration), the organic forms/grids/colors of the 80s, the art of ancient Egypt (Šaka), and everything else that inspires me, as well as things that I can't quite pinpoint, yet somehow emerge from within me.