The Look of Co-existence: A Painting Without a Mask or a Veil

 

I could not sleep last night. It was raining and in the desert, rain is a blessing. S, soon after midnight, made a large pot of coffee and while listening to the rain, I got the impulse to start a new painting.

This time, and since my eyes were still hoping for sleep, I opted for a minimalistic A few lines, a simple story.

… In the past two years, I often painted women with a veil. It was my way of thinking about the pandemic, wearing a mask, but always celebrating beauty. Some of those paintings can be seen here https://vaheark.blogspot.com/2020/06/ofelia-wearing-snake-skin-mask-portrait.html

 

The pandemic is still with us, and will be for the foreseeable future. But we are learning to co-exist.  So, last night I wanted to paint, with a few lines on rabbit skin, about that co-existence.

 

… As in most of my work, painting, taxidermy and sculpting happen through some sort of harmony. I started with a rabbit skin and painted wyes that are now familiar to my paintings. Funny, past midnight, with the rain outside having those eyes look back at me took on a new meaning.

 

 

I wondered what to do next. A month ago I found a dead butterfly and I promised it that I will give its wings a new life. So, the right wings became an earring for those eyes.

 

A strip of fur transformed itself into a warm surrounding to those eyes, and I stopped to think how the face on that rabbit skin would represent our co-existence with the pandemic.

The answer was simple – this painting does not include a face mask. Nor a veil. Just a few lines painted on rabbit skin. A peaceful look of acceptance, in parsimony and hope.

 

September 21, 2022

©Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2022