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Acrylic 24in x36in box canvas
Modern man was originally called The Persistence of Memory but throughout the painting, it became more disturbing to me and less about memory and more about the trials of 21st Century life. A fellow Twitterer, Corey Cochran, sent a Tweet stating that the painting evoked in him that its how many people feel right now, so with this the name changed to Modern Man.
I wanted to show the inner turmoil felt by many men being chained to a life they had not envisaged as part of their life plan, a creative step along from Delirium pro tempore. Being bound and trussed on all levels into a roundabout life of confusion, dissatisfaction, with someone else holding the chains that bind. An almost impossible life that is only just tolerable, but keeps us bound by previous life choices like marriage, career, children and all the other social pressures we have heaped upon ourselves.
We all make choices day to day, big ones, small ones, all of which we cannot completely comprehend the full consequences of, two months, or 20 years down the line....Modern Man is my interpretation of this.
Its been a difficult painting to execute, at one point I was ready to give it up. The image as it evolved was disturbing, touching on feelings with in me of vunerability, both personally and in that of showing the piece, and gave way to memories for me of suffering Post Natal Depression, being tied to a life I wasn't ready to live, that of a baby, marriage etc. With support from some wonderful people on Twitter I persevered and this is the result...and as Corey put it 'it strikes emotion, good or bad, that's what art should do'.
Note: a huge thankyou to @anartistexposed, @ronnietucker, @curly768, and @Shifty77 for their support and encouragement doing this painting, without you it would be consigned to file b1N.
Acrylic 10in x14in box canvas
Delirium pro Tempore is a snap shot of the fleeting insanity felt when communications are so misunderstood, especially between men and women. Sometimes I find the opposite sex completely unfathomable, and have seen that I provoke this same sense of impossible~ness of thinking to the men in my life, past and present.
I wanted the piece to scream without screaming, speak without speaking and convey the all consuming frustration that is felt when finding someone elses opinions and thought processes totally impossible to get the head around, or that the language may as well be that of another planet for all the sense it makes. I enjoyed the disturbing nature of this painting, achieving something that shouts from a silent object is something I am proud of.
Acrylic 24in x 24in on box canvas
Encore was a continuation of Curtains up, the theatre of arguments and sometimes the unenviable position of provoking violence, when the argument spirals out of control. The painting illustrates the impending doom of the situation, the grandiosity of the perpetrator and that although its a difficult subject its one many of us have faced or do face in our lives.
As mentioned in previous blog posts I adore men, their beauty, strength and humour, but the flip side can be scary and painful to live with. I have also found from experience that theres a sense of theatre to much of an argument, whether that's the persons involved personalities or an unconscious homage to the violence in the media, I am unsure...I have lived through it, played my part in it, survived it and painted it.
