They Wont Go When I Go
A more naturalistic yet imagined setting occurs in the 2020 version of When I’m Dead My Dearest and Requiem. I painted these works in my Bronx studio when Covid-19 was shutting down New York City. With reliable roots in the city, I was ready to readdress this painting concept in a way that was more representative of the space and growth I had cultivated in the years since moving from the South. These paintings were imagined and remembered compositions without being worked from a reference. The mental recollection of this technique lends to abstracted environments and less accurate figurative anatomy.
Requiem (2020)
oil on panel- 48 X 48
This rendition of Requiem portrays the flatly lit hallway of the Lakonia Hotel in Sparta, Greece, where I received the call about Steve’s death. I spent hours there, as it was the only spot close to my hotel room with strong enough Wi-Fi to make calls to the States. The figure depicted on the floor represents a grieving person. He is small in the space. He is screaming while sunflowers burst from his chest. The door number in the background is nineteen, Steve’s age when he died. The fluorescent light dulls the scene and mutes the colors to evoke a feeling of discomfort. Peeking through the large color forms is the Stevenson poem, “Requiem.”
When I’m Dead My Dearest (2020)
oil on panel- 48 X 48
Like the 2018 version, the 2020 painting shows the Rossetti poem behind a dark background. The whole figure is kneeling in a granite grave plot and represents death. There is a bed of ivy and a large tree that grow from the grave. Caught in a camera flash at night, the figure struggles with the ivy vine around his neck. Again, it is unclear whether he is tightening or removing the vine.