Boys Painting

Boys portrays a large group of interconnected people gathered in a circle. The shape, color, and pose of the bodies dynamically express the concepts of self-entertainment, dance, and levitation. I started the process by photographing myself wearing a silver-colored lycra suit. Influenced by the paintings 'Dance Of The Villagers' by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens and ‘Dance I and II’ by French painter Henry Matisse, I sampled and performed poses from those artworks. Then, I digitally collaged those images to create the composition. In much of my work I use familiar, sometimes archetypal, sites of gathering such as a bonfire. Here, it is an artificial pool, a place where people relax. As the painting evolved it transformed into more of a natural beach. Levitating and costumed bodies give the work a surrealist feel, offering a sense of dreamy timelessness to the painting. I began the project in December 2019 right before the current pandemic without knowing how much time people would be physically separated from their friends and community and prevented from traveling in the air. This surrealist idea likely came from multiple sources: my subconscious as a way to prepare for being in self-isolation, my own daily self-awareness training, and seeing large groups of people wearing masks outdoors. Yet the painting is harmonic and the colors are celebrational. Boys considers what it would look like when animalism takes over a group of unidentified boys glimmering and dancing in a public space.

Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:216 W x 72 H x 2 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.