Under Milkwood 2 2012

Oil on canvas (part of Installation)
180 x 225 cm

This image relates strongly to Under Milkwood # 1. (search for) The formal narrative is of Under Milkwood # 1 being acquired and hung in the hallowed portals of a gallery or museum by two naked women. Their distinctive gloves are an indication that this is their normal function and that they are merely doing their job. What is exceptional is that they are nude. The light hearted almost whimsical image is offset by the sheer weight and (gravitas) of the contents of the central painting as it is being hoisted into place by the two well muscled women workers. My intention is to entice the viewer to potentially project him/herself into the narrative as a participant; yet another dreamlike desire in Milkwood. Envisage what it may be like to experience this decontexturalisation in a gallery or museum space where the only nudes are usually found safely reclining within their frames on the walls or on plinths, where they are subject to what Feminists (Ann kaplan) refer to as the male gaze. My nudes have essentially been liberated from being the subject of desire and are rather uncontrollable subconscious incarnations.

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