#Medea, no. 1 Painting

When I set out to make #Medea, I was inspired to work with ancient myths and art history icons within a contemporary visual theater. As the composition developed it became imbued with details from media I was absorbing at the time. I thought it would be interesting to portray a female figure as an anti-heroine in an unjust World where she was given no other option than to be subservient. I admired the tenacity of a woman who would reach so far into the darkness to exercise the last bit of power she had available. She would murder her son to strip her treacherous husband and king of his heir. As I come to the end of developing this composition, I realize the above is all fine and good, but it isn't what this painting is about. It isn't about: obscure versions of the Jason and the Argonauts myth where Medea eats her sons; or the story I heard Jack Kornfield tell on his podcast where the Goddess, Shiva gives birth to children, then eats them to teach her student a hard lesson; it isn't about a ludicrous man-figure desperately trying to control his environment as he senselessly burns it all to the ground; and it isn't about the irony of cute puppies who are being raised to become murderous guard-servants. #Medea is about fatherhood, marriage and all the fears that go with those changes in life. Primarily, Euripides play, Medea, based on the myth, Jason and the Argonauts is about betrayal. What a demon it is. The fear of: being in love with and betrothed to someone who doesn't feel the same or even respect you; the fear of bringing children into a World where there is so much injustice; and the fear and unthinkable act of a parent turning on their children. #Medea is an illustration of what lies in the darkest cave in the deepest recesses of my mind. I had no idea I was headed there. Welcome to my cave of darkness. Please turn off the light on your way out.