the sculptor's model

hi there,

i have been in roswell 5 months now, which is almost the halfway point!  while it was hard to start working knowing i had a whole year of possibility ahead of me, once I got going I was happy to paint away.  i just wanted to show a few friends what I have started thus far and to invite your comments and feedback, which i hope is positive.  these works are only 25-50% done, so i would love to know how/if you respond to them. i have been avoiding feedback because i felt i needed to rely on my own instincts, but right now i think i could use something to push me forward.  i would like to interweave more abstract elements into these figurative works--so any idea of how to do that successfully could be useful. at this point I still feel like I haven't struck gold, so to speak--and of course i hope i will!   I think I am calling my show "the sculptors model"  which refers to a 1957 book I have of nude reference photos, but deals with the idea of turning the body into art. I have my show in november, and will exhibit an eclectic selection of paintings  but what I am excited about is that I want to show them along two sculptural pieces, some cyanotypes of my digital collages and some "photographic interventions".  i haven't made any of that yet. anyways, i know i have kept my head down these past months and not shared a whole lot about my time in roswell, so suffice it to say I am having the time of my life and this residency is truly a special place.  

imprint

the structure of being

two woman sort of form a resonance with architecture and nature.  this also refers to the story of daphne who turns into a tree as she escapes the pursuit of Apollo.  i think a wolf will be slinking out from behind the tree and the upper branches will remain as negative space. 

Europa I

this is a very small painting about 8 inches wide.  it is playing off of the greek myth Europa who was abducted by Zues while he turned into a bull.  the actual image source is off an internet video showing a woman on a mechanical bull.  her dress comes up over her bum, leaving her sort of exposed and humiliated while also titillating the audience as she gyrates on the bull.

The Arrest I and II

These are two images of people with hands somehow restricted behind their back.  I would show them side by side.  the top one is of a naked man getting arrested in front of Orlando Blooms house.  I will paint a graphic of a heart in that little blank spot.  i am thinking the center section of the image of the woman could be very low contrast with more green hues.

The Embrace

this is about 5 by 6 foot.  it is a still of the TV when it was scrambling.  i kind of gave up on it and not sure it will go in the show--if i decide to continue i may get some models to pose so that i can paint the hand going around his back.

Reclining Nude

playing off cannons of the reclining nude.  a woman has a nervous breakdown in front of her suburban house.  i think i want to superimpose some kind of shape over the whole thing