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    Home » In the studio

    The Beast

    Jan 22, 2018 ·

    These three lion paintings explore the theme of man vs. beast, the cruelty of man, animal rights, as well as the tension between life and death.

    It is all too often in art and literature that the animal is the underdog, usually depicted as a celebration of man for his great bravery and triumph against the “beast”.

    Painting of a lion with a gun pointed at it.
    "The Beast", 24 x 36 inches, acrylic and mixed media on wood, 2017.

    These paintings are sequential in my mind. First, the human is hunting the lion, sneaking up on him and pointing a gun.

    This obviously angers and frightens the lion who is seen peacefully walking away in the last two paintings. Notably, the human is not seen in the last part of this narrative.

    The image transfer text contains passages from William Golding's the Lord of the Flies and the Man-Eaters of Tsavo by John Henry Patterson.

    "Was He Not Fighting With a Lion?"
    "Victory, Defeat", 18 x 24 inches, acrylic and mixed media on wood, 2017.
    "Victory, Defeat"

    Consider the archaic question of “Who really is the beast?”

    Executed in acrylic paint, charcoal, collaged paper of magazines, tags, image transfers, metal, and other found objects. They also contain tiny glass beads which add texture to the surface.

    One of the trio also contains a real bullet casing.

    More In the Studio

    • An abstracted painting of soldiers in uniform by artist, Sam Marroquin.
      War and Propaganda
    • Landscape painting or rolling hills collaged with maps and acrylic paint.
      Water, Land, and History
    • Paper college of a scuba diver with old math book page, product tags, and wire.
      Common Truth
    • painting that contains headlines and images from the news
      My Practice

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