My interest in figurative painting continues to permeate this new body of work. The figures are both present and simultaneously disappearing, merging with their environment and each other while loosely holding their own space and form. Their universe is shifting and melding, mediated by the presence of a vertically-ruled pattern that distorts spatial and optical perception.

This painting is based on a still image from the film “Tomboy” by Céline Sciamma. The figure at left was assigned female at birth, and upon moving to a new town, decides to start presenting as a boy to the neighborhood children without telling his family. He starts an innocent childhood romance with a girl who doesn’t know he was born female. The scene in the painting is the moment right before they kiss for the first time- she covers his eyes while they are alone in the woods and steals a kiss. Visually and cinematically, I loved the way that the moment was presented. I connected to the film since I often think about how I present my own gender, and the process of self identifying and exploring my own truth, individually and through relationships.

The covering of the eyes also relates to the idea of object permanence, or the understanding that something exists even though it can not be immediately seen or sensed. Children develop this skill at a young age-it is the reason that peek-a-boo is so entertaining for young children, because they believe you actually disappear or no longer exist when they lose sight of you. Even though I’ve fully developed this skill, through adulthood there are some things that I continue to question the existence or proof of if they are not immediately visible. Through this painting, I’m thinking through this process of trusting that something will remain constant even if it is out of sight or experience.

The title of the painting, “To See Clearly”, comes from my belief that sometimes in order to see truthfully you need to look inward as opposed to looking towards external information for answers. I feel that by covering his eyes, the girl is forcing the boy to look inward, and in turn, he will not be allowed to see her, or know she exists with him, until he does so.

The painting has a clean 1.5” wooden edge, and is currently unframed.

Oil on panel, 18” x 24”, 2022