My Bird Shit’s All Over Naomi's
40 x 1.7cm
x 30cm
This artwork is an appropriation of a 17th century Swedish leading artist David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl’s 1670 artwork ‘Negro with Parrots and Monkeys’. When I saw this artwork originally I really enjoyed the composition and expression used. However we live in a cancel culture where even in the most fitting situations we aren’t allowed to mention a growing vocabulary of words purely because someone else has repeatedly used them in a derogatory manner and therefore it’s assumed all uses of the word are derogatory. “The asian girl over there” for example, is now considered a racist comment instead of describing the person you’re referring to. I feel as if I’m not allowed to tell anyone about the original artwork, it’s now considered racist despite portraying the opposite of how we now associate the word, negro. By appropriating this artwork I’m giving the original artwork a new platform to be seen, we shouldn’t shun art history out of fear of using a word in the most appropriate context and being cancelled. I could have named it “I’m not allowed to title this artwork” but I don’t believe that would have reflected the original enough or even conveyed the point I’m making. I have two other appropriations and they’re each titled referencing the originals. I did think about just appropriating the artwork into my own style, surrealist and bold colours although after starting I changed my mind and tried to ring true to the thin and many layers artists of the time would have used. Putting censor bars and staying true to the style seemed more appropriate to my goal. The approach to thinly layering paint didn’t sit well with me and I ended up stopping this to paint a massive artwork in my own style. Toward the end of this artwork I ended up rage quitting because I felt like it took too long. Had I isolated more time in the first week of this artwork then I would have stayed interested in keeping it realistic. I wasn’t able to perfectly match the perspective. This artwork is one of my hand-stretched ones, sold with hooks ready to hang and a certificate of authenticity.
Negro with Parrots and Monkeys Censored
51 x 3cm
x 51cm
This artwork is an appropriation of a 17th century Swedish leading artist David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl’s 1670 artwork ‘Negro with Parrots and Monkeys’. When I saw this artwork originally I really enjoyed the composition and expression used. However we live in a cancel culture where even in the most fitting situations we aren’t allowed to mention a growing vocabulary of words purely because someone else has repeatedly used them in a derogatory manner and therefore it’s assumed all uses of the word are derogatory. “The asian girl over there” for example, is now considered a racist comment instead of describing the person you’re referring to. I feel as if I’m not allowed to tell anyone about the original artwork, it’s now considered racist despite portraying the opposite of how we now associate the word, negro. By appropriating this artwork I’m giving the original artwork a new platform to be seen, we shouldn’t shun art history out of fear of using a word in the most appropriate context and being cancelled. I could have named it “I’m not allowed to title this artwork” but I don’t believe that would have reflected the original enough or even conveyed the point I’m making. I have two other appropriations and they’re each titled referencing the originals. I did think about just appropriating the artwork into my own style, surrealist and bold colours although after starting I changed my mind and tried to ring true to the thin and many layers artists of the time would have used. Putting censor bars and staying true to the style seemed more appropriate to my goal. The approach to thinly layering paint didn’t sit well with me and I ended up stopping this to paint a massive artwork in my own style. Toward the end of this artwork I ended up rage quitting because I felt like it took too long. Had I isolated more time in the first week of this artwork then I would have stayed interested in keeping it realistic. I wasn’t able to perfectly match the perspective. This artwork is one of my hand-stretched ones, sold with hooks ready to hang and a certificate of authenticity.
71 x 1.7cm
x 102cm
A while ago I decided to paint a personified history of Bulgaria, the man on the left is Krum, the Bulgarian who lead Bulgaria to take over most of Eastern Europe and the man on the right is the fall of Bulgaria representing the loss of land into nothing. Krum famously severed the head of his opponent and turned his skull into a cup. I painted the cup in gold (gold is better) and had the man watching the cup as he's being attacked as if he's more worried about the legacy and not his life. This artwork is one of my hand-stretched ones, sold with hooks ready to hang and a certificate of authenticity.
39.5 x 3cm
x 50cm
I decided to paint my feelings on décor art. The walls are cactus spikes, like some of my best paintings, at the bottom I painted a man hanging a frame (the décor art.......) as if he's framing the wall and at the top I painted a nod to renaissance art where you can see roof arches and biblical characters in them. Jesus is on the right, dead and holding up two fingers as his coat melts and flies away in the form of little birds. On the right you can see a man ready to jump the wall (for a fihgt), being held back by another and a woman watching over, hiding. Oil based, sold with hooks ready to hang and a certificate of authenticity!
