For the artist, still life embodies both the spiritual world and the physical ephemeral qualities of life and death. (mercerunion.org)
The 1980's were characterized by his use of new materials with ephemeral qualities, such as flowers, straw, or ash while early exploited lead became more dominant, due to his purchase of the lead roof from a Cologne cathedral when the replacement was done. (widewalls.ch)
Countless critics have chased this unnameable ephemeral quality in Mitchell's work, but it is perhaps the artist herself who put it best: «Painting is a means of feeling living. (christies.com)