SHARA HUGHES (B. 1981)

"I decided to title the show 'Lamenting, Sighing, Weeping.' Those are the first words Ježibaba sings in the opera when she and Rusalka meet. I feel like it’s the theme for the whole story—it’s how it all begins and ends with Rusalka and the prince. I felt a strong connection with Ježibaba’s character and Rusalka. The whole story is about wanting something you can’t have and the pain of love that can’t exist. I think the window/framing tool I use in the paintings that makes the viewer look through to something else reflects the entire theme of this opera" – Shara Hughes, The Metropolitan Opera, 2017.