Peacockery Painting

Phearce Perturbation -or- the body that seeks to join -or- Peacockery All take part in the dance with ‘mask’ that is Being the other, an oftentimes ritual that is seen as a universal need. The heads and masks are really inhabited at this time, so much so, that the effects can last for several days beyond the dance, or even become part of the flavour of the dancer for long periods. Men who seek a joining body display on this night. The process of preparation and preening can last for a whole week and causes much ululation and tearing of head hair. The rite of Peacockery is highly competitive. -- This painting is from a series called WRONGER RITES, a collection of created or mis-remembered rituals, acted out by a congregation of bacchanalian, gender bending, amoral-yet-moral, sexual exploring wild ‘Now Peoples’ overseen by their Quing.' Artist’s statement for WRONGER RITES The Quing of the Now Peoples I have an ongoing fascination with ritual objects from all world cultures and in my work I often return to anthropology, psychology and the study of humans as just another animal. “Wronger Rites’” depicts a set of imagined rituals performed by the Now peoples and overseen by their gender-queer priestess, the Quing. The work attempts to link us to our ancestors and far-flung brothers and sisters, drawing new archetypes from the language of myth and costume. Sometimes the masked dancers really are animal-headed deities; sometimes a striking ceremonial phallus is just made from a pair of tights and a cardboard tube. I am always concerned with picking apart the social norm, particularly in relation to gender and sexuality, highlighting and criticising accepted social behaviour. In the rituals I have created roles for the men, women and people between, to allow more freedom of expression for their bodies and drives than we give our civilised selves. I borrow from primitive culture and intense cultural catharses from around the world. My characters are clearly Western but behavioural customs have broken down for them; are they castaway, or living in some post-boundary future? They inhabit a place and time removed but they are recognisably us. Secular society denies us a shared belief in a universal narrative, and many of us miss out on performing rituals that mark our life stages or handling objects that contain power and wisdom. Wronger Rites began as a drive to imagine sacred actions for the Now Peoples, to see what might be missed. Kirsty Whiten – artist's statement My inspiration is just as likely to come from pop culture, fashion or science as from the history of art. I use various photographs to work from; some I take myself, and others I find in books, newspapers or on postcards.  I want to create an off-balance psychological portrait, as simply as possible. I'm striving to make frank images of people, dealing with their psychology and socially constructed behaviour; making the viewer aware of the sexuality, control and neuroses underneath appearance. I want to make them uncomfortable by presenting a character very directly and intimately. A lot of my work is about power-play in personal relationships; submission, domination, manipulation, tenderness, and how this translates to society and culture. I often focus on how contemporary awareness of self-presentation is constructed. My meticulous treatment of a subject is a kind of reverence, I use the detail, the time-hungry technique and a powerful dose of ambiguity to deepen the emotional impact.   The painting is on a stretched canvas, quite lightweight and easy to transport or hang.