Love Letters - Invitation: Evelyn Waugh to Laura Herbert, 1936 Painting

Evelyn Waugh to Laura Herbert, 1936 (Marriage Proposal) Acrylic, Graphite, Vintage Book on Linen Panel/Board Collection of love letters written by historical figures and famous lovers throughout the ages. The phrases of the hand-written pieces correspond to loving, passionate, sometimes humorous excerpts from each letter, the text partially obscured by paint ground. In these pieces, I appropriate a pre-existing text, here letters, and obscure the original document which serves to act as a mirror for the ideas, needs, and desires of the viewer. The idea of covering is twofold: First, simply, that these are private letters. Intimate thoughts and words, often delivered in secret, hidden, intended only for two people, and their eyes alone. Secondly, the hidden words act as a metaphor for the subconscious – an awareness and the thoughts that exist just under the surface, almost out of reach, barely perceptible. The unspoken that I believe exists in us all. As the words are concealed and the paint eventually dries, small, seemingly trivial details – random words and phrases emerge, as if bubbling from the subconscious, while the larger picture and context are erased. The pieces are always painted and presented in a set of two, representing the duality of nature and suggesting that there are two sides to every story. Certainly, this work is about human emotion — the spectrum from love to hate, or indifference rather, and all the messiness in-between. While these pieces may seem simple in execution, the concept runs deeper. I take much time pondering, searching for just the correct phrase to write on the finished piece. It must resonate with me. If not initially, then after I obliterate the text...