To paint is to adapt ideas into shape. Bristle and Beguile explores my struggle to show who I really am. The carefully crafted facade of a lion leaves much ambiguity to the viewer; there’s a certain strangeness to the texture, to the form. A strangeness posing as a reflection of androgyny, a reflection of the desire to be something else. A feeling of unfamiliarity in my own skin.
One could imagine themselves feeling the texture of fur upon their arms. A strangeness, too, of how these textures embed themselves upon a familiar form. It reminds you of your own arm - the one you'd coddle after a long day, the muscles you'd massage after much trepidation.
There's a weirdness to the face. A subtle invitation to meet her/its/my gaze. I want you to feel who I am. An expression of my inner softness, transfigured into reality. A transfiguration of my "intimidating" presence.
