You might think these paintings are a bit odd... A woman with a bird on her head, another with a snake on her head, and another one with a cat on her head! What is this all about?
This is a series of five paintings. Initially, I thought that after years of illustrations and abstract work, it was time to test myself on something a little more figurative, and then came the idea of the first woman. But not just woman, a woman with a cat on her head; yeah, but not a normal cat, a cat with powers, and a spirally body with coloured limbs. The final result was a woman looking quite condescending, almost surrendering to that force overpowering her. The cat is looking right at you, while the woman is not... what does that mean and what is she looking at?
Then came the second woman... the one with the bird: she is an aristocrat, her luxurious clothes, long neck and fiery look show that. This woman is in control, but yet she is looking somewhere else.
Next up, the woman with a fish; she looks a bit like Ziggy Stardust, one of my idols. She belongs to a different time, her eyes are closed and the fish is hanging on her head. She is in her own universe, which one we cannot know.
The fourth painting is a woman with a snake; she is looking right at you and not is not impressed. She is almost scarier than the boa constrictor itself, she is inquisitive as if she knew what you are thinking about. She is the bad sister, the fighter, the one you would not want to meet in the dark.
Lastly, the woman with the peacock. This was inspired by a trip to Portugal and shows, for once, a peaceful face with an elegant animal. All in all, she is the good sister, the easier to read one, or at least one would think...
Each time I started a new woman, I did not deliberately chose the expression she'd have. It is as if each one of them came "alive" of their own will, without me interfering.
I should really title this little collection "Somewhere else": the five women are in front of us but they are not, they are elusive, enigmatic and ambiguous. What lies in their mind, or around them, we don't know. They are somewhere else. And the animals are their thoughts, ideas and obsessions.
Technical details: each painting is acrylic on canvas, 50x40cm.
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