WHY ARE YOU BACK THERE?

Inspired by the surprising amount of interpretations expressed to me by people who had liked the previous piece featuring The Angel. I would cement the theme of her being perplexed by human behaviour.

There are so many stories about humans finding otherworldly beings completely incomprehensible, that I found it interesting to flip the perspective.

While this could show up in the form of blatant commentary, it could also show up in the form of testing the audience. So that’s exactly what I did.

I painted this work with the knowledge that this sexless being’s body was shaped like that of one that may be easily sexualised, had it possessed details like genitalia or nipples.

However, the focus on an otherworldly appearance as well as the lack of expression from The Angel, on top of the title of the piece, all add up to a somewhat strange, counteractive tone. Something devoid of notions of sexualisation despite the angle some may find suggestive.

Potential signs of sexuality turned sexless.

No direct statements nor attempts at tantalization are made.

So, what was the intent? What was all that stuff about human behaviour?

The intent was to observe. What this piece would say about humans would be expressed by its audience.

The strange mix of tones I had created received innocent appreciation for the form of the character in some places, lust in others, censorship in some places, none in others. Discussion would be had over the framing suggesting certain ideas, yet be counteracted by the details that were framed.

Some social media would take down the post, others wouldn’t.

Everybody had a different answer to why they were back there, every answer revealing something about themselves.

The Angel remains perplexed.