Oil on canvas, 36x48
I have always been fascinated by the word Victory. I feel like every time I work, I am competing with myself. I love this aspect of making art. I love the potency of defeat. I love the chance. I may either fail and be defeated, or I will feel victorious. This brief moment of victory only really lasts a moment. Then, it’s time to move onto the next image. I am always returning to Francesco de Goya. For this painting, I referenced Witches’ Flight. When I saw that painting for the first time, it felt as if I was walking in on a ritual. It was something that I shouldn’t be seeing. I think often about the ways in which his work symbolizes the tragic vices of the human experience. I tried to reinterpret some of those vices in my own way. I like to reference old paintings because it symbolizes opposites. Blending the old with the new is how we pay homage to the past while planting seeds for the future. It can be argued that painting is dying. More specifically, classical painting. I want to do my part in keeping it relevant and alive.
I think this painting taught me how to see space and perspective in a clearer way. Although I was painting something tragic, I had a helluva good time with it.
