Jealousy – The Mirror That Burns

A therapeutic art reflection by Marie-Élisabeth

There are emotions we name in whispers. Jealousy is one of them—often cloaked in shame, often misunderstood. But in the Emotional Landscapes series, I chose to stretch it into form. To let it breathe. To let it burn.

Jealousy – The Mirror That Burns

I saw her joy and forgot my own.

I touched the mirror and it burned.

But beneath the ache, I found my longing—

and it was mine to tend.

This is not shame.

This is signal.

A call to return to what I’ve abandoned.

A chance to reclaim what I thought I lacked.

I do not envy.

I remember.

This piece began as a torn collage: green and gold fragments layered over a woman’s gaze, translucent veils, silhouettes reaching toward light. It evolved into a painting—textured, cubist, and emotionally raw. The eye at its center does not accuse. It witnesses.

Visual Anatomy

- Green: the color of envy, yes—but also of longing, of growth unrealized

- Gold: the shimmer of comparison, the ache of someone else’s joy

- Veil: what we imagine, what we fear, what we hide

- Silhouettes: blurred figures reaching for the same light—perhaps unaware of each other

- Cracked mirror: not truth, but distortion; not reflection, but projection

- Red threads: desire, urgency, the pulse of not-enough

Each layer is intentional. Each texture holds a question: What part of me feels unseen? What longing have I mistaken for lack?

Therapeutic Insight

Jealousy, in its essence, is not cruelty. It is the ache of disconnection—from self, from worth, from presence. When we stretch it into art, we reclaim it. We see its roots: unmet needs, forgotten desires, the longing to be mirrored in joy.

This painting does not resolve jealousy. It holds it. It lets it speak. And in doing so, it transforms it—from shame into signal, from burn into balm.

This piece is available as a fine art print and postcard edition. For purchase inquiries, please contact:

contact@kookofleurs.com

or visit www.kookofleurs.com

Each edition includes a poetic insert and is printed with care in Paris. Collector formats available upon request.