Somnus, the Roman god of Sleep, wraps the woman in a blanket of night sky. She looks tranquil, as if she will have sweet dreams tonight. Laurence writes that the painting is “a response to the chronic insomnia that the country and globe is afflicted with right now. Somnus, according to the classical Romans, is the brother of Death and lives in the underworld. It’s where we get words like ‘insomnia’ and ‘somnambulant’ from. The sky and clouds in my painting is purposely upside down, as he is drawing it gently over the girl.”
