Diana Dreams of Flying Painting

"Diana Dreams of Flying," 2013. Acrylic on canvas. 40.6" H x 53.5" W (103.2 x 135.9 cm) / Organic Realism "Diana Dreams of Flying" is a very important work by Jay Worth Allen (as well as a personal favorite of the artist). Inspired from a dream by the artist's wife, Jay Worth Allen created this work personifying innocence basking in peace and complete freedom as portrayed in the act of flying, unclothed, through the midnight sky. The stark contrast of the nude's light skin against the black dark sky emphasizes the vulnerability of the flyer. Yet, the flowing golden hair atop the faceless figure's prone position (flying away from the canvas, carefree, amidst the occasional wisp of clouds) portrays a transcendent peace and security--an inner calmness existing only in uncompromised confidence that someone is keeping watch. To accomplish this, Jay Worth Allen combined black, yellow, and flesh color pigment in an acrylic base, executing a fresco-esque technique combining pigment and gesso to emphasize the illusion of flowing hair in three-dimensional space on two-dimentional surface. The fiddle f-holes reiterate Man Ray's homage to painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres' 1808 ("La Grande Baigneuse"), whose exceptional ability to play the violin gave rise to the French colloquialism, 'violon d'Ingres' or Ingres' violin (a phrase that has degraded over time to imply "a hobby"). Man Ray's 1924 "Ingres' Violin" clearly plays on this theme--mimicking Ingres' female nude, whose subject is a stationary female nude, adorned with a turban, loosely draped fabric around her lower torso, her face slightly turned towards the viewer, and Ray's infamous f-holes painstakingly painted on her "armless" back in the general location of a violin's f-holes, -- accentuating the metaphor of the female body with that of a violin. In "Diana Dreams of Flying," we are given an unconscious glimpse into an internal yearning for the "truth" to come to light -- that Jay Worth Allen is not merely a master artist, but a master musician, as well. During his first year at The Academy, Jay Worth Allen was "informed" by one of his first year instructors, that "[Jay] ha[d] two witches" (referring to the two God-given abilities), and that "[he] must choose one or the other" -- an impossible task for one genuinely endowed with genius in both forms of expression. Thus, while Man Ray's imagery may maintain a tension between objectification and appreciation of the female form (poking fun at the 19th century Ingres), Jay Worth Allen's use of the f-holes, painted into the back of his fully-limbed, golden hair flowing, carefree, flying wife, implies a harmony, a perfect balance of the artist's two muses within: Art and Music. This is the first showing and offering of "Diana Dreams of Flying." Given the personal significance of this work (and the fact that it is a nude), this work has never been publicly exhibited, nor offered -- until now. Please visit the Jay Worth Allen's profile for more information, and to view other works currently being offered through Saatchi Art. We appreciate and encourage any comments. Thank you. Regarding shipping: This work will be shipped in accordance to Saatchi Art's shipping guidelines (removed from its stretcher, rolled and shipped in a professional mailing tube). Otherwise, please contact the artist to discuss other shipping methods (which may possibly incur additional shipping costs).