Neon Peel

Neon Peel constituted my final painting project at York University.

The motivation behind this painting was two-fold. Firstly, I was continuing to explore my fascination with my own metaphorical comparisons between the human body, and the metropolitan edifices of our current society. I had begun this exploration with a photography project [that, at the time of this writing I have to find, scan and upload] where I explored the inner reaches of the TTC, and began to see a distinct comparison between something arterial and our transportation system. This piece began my structural comparison, where I used rigid lines and bolder strokes to segment usually flowing forms. I wanted to eradicate the surface similarities by aligning the structural lines of a building with that of a human form. I’ve chosen the female form, as it is the one that interests me the most. This was heavily influenced by a renewed interest in the peak of the ‘isms’ movements of the early century, most notably the cubist and futurist movements. One of my favorite pieces at the time (and still is) was Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Nude Descending a Staircase.’ This influence, I believe, can be seen in the moments I’ve attempted to capture in one image.

The second was something far more personal in my exploration that continues to influence my painting. Not satisfied with the single canvas experience, I wanted to align my interest in story-telling through photo-essays with my interest in painting. Instead of using a single panel to montage my ideas into a single image, I fragmented my thoughts into panels, and arranged them in a way that I felt mimicked the growth of the idea, and my thinking that encapsulated it. I no longer feel the need to constrain myself to single canvases, and continue to explore my thoughts by fragmenting my canvas areas.

Neon Peel currently resides in my collection, and is still one of my favorite pieces. It is not for sale.