Yes I know it’s been a minute since my last blog post, but in my defense…..er…..you see….Life?!
Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s proceed shall we? :)))
So I just recently had my first post pandemic era vernissage, and it was great!
I’d like to express my deepest appreciation to all the people who turned up for me and for the team of Noblesse Palace in Bucharest for making it all happen. It truly was a memorable evening.
Apart from displaying all my works to so many who have followed my artistic journey but had never really seen any of my works in real life, this particular exhibition was extra special to me, as it marked the first time I revealed my first ever painting series, which had taken me two years to complete, to the world!
This series, which I call the ‘selfie-Series’ was the center focus of my exhibition titled
“More than meets the Eyes”, and since I haven’t talked about any of my works since I started these blogs, I thought I might as well start with these.
The series is made up of 12 paintings, featuring 12 topless models posing with smart phones taking a selfie (hence the title), each with a different bird on their shoulders or around them.
The idea for this series came to me during the lockdowns when people had mostly nothing to do and the seeming explosion of social media contents by just about everyone. I’d noticed a lot of young people posting large amount of selfies, each pose looking more revealing than the other, in search of ‘likes’ and followers (that’s how it seemed to me anyways.) Don’t get me wrong, many of those posts were beautiful to behold, and I actually personally knew some of the people posting some of those pics.
One day I looked at one of the comments made under one of these posts and it got me thinking. I found myself asking, 'does the person responsible for that comment actually know this lady like I do? Does he realize that she is much more than the picture she’d posted?'
Now let’s be fair, there was actually no way he (or anyone else looking at those selfie pics) could ever have known the true nature of the person posting said pics. They could only react to what they’re shown.
Just then, the idea to ‘say something’ about this came to me, and I could only say it the way I (or any other artist) could….through my art.
So I got in touch with a friend of mine and asked if she would model for me, she said yes and I asked
her a question. I said “If you could represent your personality with a bird,
which bird would it be?” And she replied, “A barn owl”! I looked at her and said “Yes! I see it indeed! Cute, silent, yet a bad-ass predator.”
I made the first painting and posted it on my S/M pages, without explaining it at all, the reactions to it was not what I expected to be honest, as it inspired others to to want to model for a painting as well.
I’d ask each person why they’d want to model and I got responses ranging from “It looks like fun”, "I really want to see myself through the eyes of an artist”, “I’ve been timid and safe all my life and I just want to do something daring and I think doing this would boost my self esteem/confidence” etc…. Basically it became too clear to me that many ladies out there nurse deep fantasies of being painted risque and immortalised on canvas by an artist, particularly one they trust.
Who knew??
Anyways, over the course of the next couple of years I made 12 (a number that was suggested by another friend of mine) of those paintings with the help of 11 friends/models. Yes I said 11, only because one of them ‘Nr. 5' was created from imagination. Why you ask? Well blame that on my
high-school siblings, who gave me grief for not having any “Black representation” on my series till then, and since I couldn’t find any “sistah” to model for me and I didn’t want them nutters to mob me, I just created one for the sake of peace upon mankind! :)))
(shout out to my ISL-94 Family).
So that I may keep this post short, I’ll just go ahead and explain the paintings. The whole idea for these paintings, was/is my way of saying:
"If you are blessed with a body that probably took the good Lord 7 whole days to create and gift to you,
CELEBRATE it if the spirit moves you! Never apologize for it! However, take care that it does not become your only defining attribute. As you show your looks for all to behold and marvel at, you must simultaneously show your personality, your true character, that bit of you that makes you, special and unique, as represented on each painting by the birds. And as each painting has a different bird, know also that each individual has their own different character and personality, so there’s no point trying to be like anyone else but you. Finally, showing off your physical beauty may get you tonnes of likes and superficial admirers,but if you decide to also show your true persona and unique character truthfully, you may or may not have the same numbers of ‘likes’, but those who do stick around will not just ‘like’ you, but will also adore you.”
I think I’ll end it here as there’s not much really to add to this.
The exhibition can still be seen until the 1st of Nov 2022 at Noblesse palace (Str. Sfintilor nr 7, Bucharest), and as I mentioned to those who attended the vernissage, which just happened to coincide with breast cancer awareness month, all the 12 paintings of the series are for sale and 20% of each will be donated to a charity organization involved with breast cancer, all except one.
Nr. 6 of the series will have 100% of its sale price go to seeking out an actual person fighting breast cancer and have their medical bills offset or paid for, as much as the sale price can cover.
This is in an effort to honour my friend and model for nr. 6 who lost her battle with breast cancer earlier this year and never got to see the finished painting she modeled for (soon after being diagnonsed) in life.
So yeah, that’s about it with the selfie series paintings. Next time I may tell you all about what I have decided is the most stress-inducing mentally torturous thing out there…. Moving apartments! But that’s another story for another day!
That one nearly broke me! And it would have, were it not for God, good friends and the obvious fact that I was, am and forever will be...
THE BLACK THUNDER!!! :))))))
To view images of the whole series, click here.