The artist always felt confused by the "Garden of Eden" episode, the second creation story in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, which conflates place and time in narrating the story of all men as one man who embraces sin through the encouragement of Eve in a God-created world.
So "(O)ut of Eden" is a personal retelling of the story. It depicts a large red box (mind/heart) containing everything in a comforting, orderly manner. This is in contrast to the external world beyond the box which is full of chaos and temptation as lorded over by a yellow serpent.
Inside the box, a bright green-yellow light is receding or advancing. Additionally, there is a silhouette of a man and an older girl holding hands. The girl has a red apple, fruit from the tree of wisdom, in her other hand. Skyler intends for the pair to represent both God and man, as well as father and daughter. In the former, they are walking out of the light, and in the latter, they are generationally walking toward the light.
The work suggests that man evolved from a pure animal, guided by "god-given instinct," to a conscious being capable of making moral choices based on self-awareness and awareness of others.
The serpent remains separate from humanity until it eats the apple and becomes capable of deliberately making immoral choices for personal benefit. Ironically, man becomes more divine when open to temptation and living in the resulting chaos.
The painting, therefore, is a repudiation of the misogynistic notion that the serpent tempted Eve, who then tempted pure Adam. Instead, Eve represents the way forward for humanity, even if the road is long and the journey is arduous.
