Air Castles 

Maxfield Parrish created "Air Castles," an evocative image that floats in the imagination, sometime during the early 20th century. Parrish, working at a time of significant cultural shifts, invites us into a dreamscape where gender and identity blur. Against a backdrop of fairy-tale castles and shimmering bubbles sits a figure, both vulnerable and powerful. Their androgynous form challenges conventional gender norms. The gaze directed upwards suggests longing, perhaps for a world where identity is as fluid and boundless as the air castles they contemplate. Parrish once said, “I’m principally concerned with the creation of beauty”. The artwork encourages us to reflect on the societal constructs that define who we are and who we aspire to be. It captures that fleeting moment of introspection where we dare to imagine beyond the confines of our realities, leaving us to ponder the delicate, ephemeral nature of our dreams.