So I’ve just moved to Burlington, Vermont and I’m happy to say I enjoyed my first Friday Art Walk, just this February. I was blessed with meeting Muffin Ray, whose artwork has been on display at Salaam, on Church Street. Her assemblage paintings inspired me to take a different direction in my own work.
Back in January I decided now was as good a time as ever to delve deeper into self-reflection. I have finally moved out on my own and I’m not planning on adopting any more strays, or friends in need of a place to crash. I’m single for the first time in a long time and I’m experiencing the quiet and solitude I’ve wanted for a while. As a huge fan of Alberto Vargas’s Fleurs du Mal, I wanted to recreate the solace, decadence and eroticism I’ve so admired, since first seeing a lithograph at a Scottsdale art gallery in 2004.
I have chosen to embody this “Flower of Evil” in the form of a self-portrait. I am using oil paints, mixed with linseed oil, and my inspiration from Muffin Ray has given me the courage to turn my painting into a sculpture. I’ve been building up the surface of my painting with old t-shirts, to show depth and texture in my robe.
This self portrait is for me. I never want to forget the pleasant aloneness I am feeling these days, and like a great song or smell, this painting will help bring me back to these very moments, where I feel free and alive.
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