Saskia Lumosi and her orange-eyed aunts

Saskia pryes on the kitchen, hungry after witnessing the horror of her aunts. She knows that it is her fault too, having opened the house door for them without asking who they were. There is barely anything edible in the cabinet, they have eaten almost everything. They don’t take good care of her. The she spots them: the lines of dead butterflies, suspended in syrup, inside dozens of crystal bottles. For the first time in her short life, Saskia begins to feel angry. Watercolor and graphite on canvas.

Saskia knew they weren’t her true aunts. Maybe now her real relatives will come. But for now, she has learned to take care of herself and to set limits. Her mother would be shocked, but proud nonetheless. She is on her way out, this time she didn’t forget to lock the door. Watercolor and graphite on canvas.

Saskia invites her alleged aunts to a dinner party. A very special dinner. The three women are delighted: they think that the surly, insect-loving girl has finally given in to their charisma. But it is too late when they realize that the child has used the syrup canned butterflies to fix the exquisite stew they wolfed down without knowing. Their members stiffen and the air freezes inside their throats just as Saskia foresaw: allergic to butterflies. Watercolor and graphite on canvas.

Saskia keeps a secret treasure. A little white dragon that floats inside a crystal bottle. After the revelation of the dead butterflies, she decides she needs courage to do what has to be done. So she drinks the dragon in one gulp. Watercolor and graphite on canvas.

Horrified, Saskia discovers her aunts around a boiling cauldron, her twisted faces in monstrous grins, the sound of their laughter makes the crystals on the windows and Saskia´s insides rattle. She can’t believe this women are her mother’s sisters. Then, one of them, almost carelessly, tosses a butterfly into the cauldron that is simmering with colored wings. Saskia is frozen on her post, understanding why butterflies have become more and more scarce on her furtive walks. Watercolor and graphite on canvas.

One night, strange and shrilling laughter wake Saskia up. Incapable of going back to sleep, she decides to discover the source. The blue butterfly on her heels. Watercolor and graphite on canvas.

Saskia goes out of the house without permission and invites a butterfly to come in. From afar, one of her aunts is watching. Watercolor and graphite on canvas.

Saskia loves butterflies. They are her favorite animals, and so were of her mother. Her aunts don’t seem no like them at all. Watercolor and graphite on canvas.

Saskia has lost her mother. Three women have come to take care of her. She opened the door without asking who they were, they told her that they were her aunts. Watercolor and graphite on canvas.