WH. (184x160) +(183x159). 2160h. Print

This is a diptych where one painting is the inverse of the other. Both are copies of digitally modified images from Whaterhouse's Hylas and the Nymphes. The myth of Hylas tells the story of a member of the Argos ship, a lover of Hercules, who is abducted by the Naiads when he goes looking for water in a fountain, promising him eternal life and power. His crew marches without him. I take this myth as an allegory of labour in general and labour in painting in particular. Drawing correspondence between working time and abduction, and the promise to ascend the social ladder through work and the promise of immortality and power of the nymphs. I take an existing painting as a reference, to move away from the idea of painting as creation and expression and focus on the elaboration of painting as time spent by the painter and to achieve a certain critical distance regarding the image described.