Balance of Life — Original Mixed Media on Wood | Rita Irvin

Two dragons spiral into one another within an ancient yin-yang symbol — one silver, one crimson — locked in an eternal dance that is neither conflict nor surrender, but balance. This is the balance of life itself: light held within darkness, chaos cradled by order, strength born from opposing forces that cannot exist without each other.

The work begins with hand-carved wood, its surface sculpted to give the dragons dimension and breath. Layers of newsprint — real headlines, real stories, the noise of the world — are collaged across the background, grounding the mythic imagery in the everyday human experience. The dragon scales that ripple across each coiling body are individually cut from recycled Coca-Cola cans, their iconic reds and silvers shaped by hand and placed one by one to catch the light. Copper wire, metal beads, beaded chain, and found hardware details finish the piece, adding raw industrial texture to the organic forms.

The result is a work that rewards closeness — each inch reveals new material, new texture, new intention — while commanding presence from across a room.

• Medium: Mixed media on carved wood panel
• Dimensions: 42 × 42 inches
• Materials: Hand-carved wood, acrylic paint, newsprint collage, recycled Coca-Cola cans, copper wire, metal beads, beaded chain, found hardware
• Framed: Black floating frame, ready to hang
• Signed by the artist

About the Artist
Rita Irvin is a self-taught mixed-media artist born and raised in West Berlin, Germany. Her work explores memory, emotion, and transformation through layered textures, surreal symbolism, and dreamlike imagery. Influenced by Dalí, Frida Kahlo, and Georgia O'Keeffe, Rita developed her own visual language without formal training — shaped by years in interior design and a lifelong immersion in art and architecture. Every piece is a one-of-a-kind original, made by hand and never reproduced.

Questions or commission inquiries: info@ritairvin.com