Murdered Paintings: TRUST Collection
The painting in this gallery was originally 60x48 and painted 2 years ago. I was thinking about the necessary role vulnerability plays in truly trusting someone. Grabbed a big canvas (scale matters and it’s a BIG idea) and directly sketched onto the picture plane with charcoal. Then came paint, color choices, drips and scribbles.
The act of sitting naked in front of another is another exercise in trust and vulnerability. My experience of the world has been through the lens of a female so that’s why I chose a woman to be the central figure in this piece. Her body is postured towards the viewer, because she is confident in herself, but doesn’t really trust the viewer. They have not earned the trust of her gaze. She’s aware that her nakedness is her freedom and her jailer at once. She’s nervous about what you think about her. So she’s put on Joker-esque make-up to make you uneasy as she is. She doesn’t know you. You don’t know her. What you think of her isn’t important. You see, she’s trying to win at this TRUST game. She’s beginning with TRUSTING herself. She learned that by putting herself out there mistakes will be made. Roads traveled will lead to dead ends and gut punches. On the other hand some paths will lead to exciting opportunities and ride or die besties. She’s a fucking badass and yet I killed her. Why?
When I stepped back and looked at her, I didn’t think she would be received by the audience in the spirit she was conceived. Meaning, I felt she looked weak in terms of the rules of composition. I failed her. I failed me. I had to re-do the whole painting and try again. I photographed her for my records. Then painted over her.
With the gift of time and new tech I edited and cropped the painting into various pieces. I’m FRANKENSTEIN! I’ve assembled her best bits, shuffled them up and have given her new life. I’m going to make the pieces in the gallery below available as reproductions on on Fine Art America. They can be printed in various sizes and on a variety of substrates. Alas - NEW LIFE:)
