Beim Schlafengehen by Paula Arciniega—indigo abstract with vertical light column, postpartum rest and release into night.

Series

Postpartum

Beim Schlafengehem (When Falling Asleep)

Strauss: Four Last Songs

54" x 42"

Oil on Canvas

PRIVATE COLLECTION

Now that I am wearied of the day, I will let the friendly, starry night greet all my ardent desires like a sleepy child. Hands, stop all your work. Brow, forget all your thinking. All my senses now yearn to sink into slumber. And my unfettered soul wishes to soar up freely into night’s magic sphere to live there deeply and thousand-fold.

– Hermann Hesse

Indigo rises; a pale column of light climbs like a soul unburdened. “Beim Schlafengehen” is the postpartum prayer for rest: hands released, thoughts quieted, the self allowed to drift beyond the day. Night opens and the spirit lifts.

LA Phil program note