Cyclum Lunarem

I painted the moons from an entire summer, starting on the summer solstice and completed on the autumnal equinox.

Each moon is painted upon a 3 3/8" square prepared with linen and a traditional gesso ground. 24kt gold leaf was gilded upon this ground and the moon then painted upon this.

Installation size is variable based on shape as well as spacing between the moons.

This piece plays well with atmospheric light due to the gold leaf.

Grid of small square paintings on 24kt gold leaf depicting a summer's worth of moon phases, mounted on a gray wall above a vintage leather trunk — Cyclum Lunarem by kyle parker cunningham

Angled view of Cyclum Lunarem showing rows of gold-leafed moon phase paintings catching atmospheric light, with silver and gray moons progressing from full to crescent across the grid

Full frontal view of Cyclum Lunarem installation arranged in a tall vertical column of gold-leafed square tiles, each painted with a lunar phase in muted grays and blacks on a white gallery wall

Close-up detail of Cyclum Lunarem showing the painted moon phases on gold leaf squares arranged in horizontal rows, revealing the textured brushwork and waxing and waning lunar cycle