Modern Man

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.