Skulk 2, acrylic on canvas, 16x20"
Of the people I happened to catch commenting on it, I was given a prognosis of heavy issues with my mother or with women. Despite varying opinions, these pieces are not about women at all. I do not recall ever explaining my work in great detail within the confines of a blog or an interview, but here goes.The very first drawings of the Skulk was part of a larger series of totem/herald illustrations I did with gouache and ink on watercolor paper. (See Flickr here) They were very popular and the entire series sold, including my very first acrylic painting after a 5 year hiatus from the medium. The buyer, a woman, felt empowered by the image. She had major changes going on in her life and the painting spoke to her. I felt great about selling it to such a recently freed spirit, and had a good hunch that if I made more paintings similar I could probably reach more people and, let's be honest, sell more pieces.
The idea was put on the shelf until I spoke with the director of the Studios on the Park. As we were talking about putting together the group show, she mentioned that I should do a solo show of some sort. Reviewing my Flickr site, she enjoyed several things, including the totem series. When it came time to turn in my work for the show, she pushed me to make a larger version (4 feet by 5 feet!) of the 16x20" Skulk painting, which later sold to a very classy woman who owns Deer Run in Cambria, CA, a cunning curio shop with amazing art and other artifacts.
Skulk 3, acrylic on canvas, 48x60".
What is it about these figures that evokes such reactions? Foxes, as I have noticed, are very popular imagery at the moment. The Young Savages show yielded not only my foxes, but artists Isaac Yorke and Beth Reninger also created fox-themed pieces. If I was the least bit hip, I would of probably avoided using them. Fox imagery is extremely varied from being messengers (Native Americans) to omens of rain (Japan) to bastions of intelligence (Celtic). They signify various afterlife connotations depending on the religion. Maybe it's the color--red--which can signify passion, desire, intensity.If I was going to tell you that I thought of these things as I created the initial Skulk drawings, I would be relying on some heavy reverse engineering. It's simply a matter of common sense, a mixture of the peripheral fox knowledge and the need for a group of some kind of animal to be clever and slick enough to travel in a group on the prowl, not out of revenge, but on the offensive. Because they could, not because they needed to.
As this series unravels, and will most likely be shown at Linnaea's Cafe in October, I hope to create an entire room of these empowered figures, which in turn will create a visceral response to the viewer as they submit themselves to the will of the Skulk.
