Daughters of Leuccipus

A solo exhibition, January -February 2015, at  Kenise Barnes Fine Art.

In my most recent series of paintings, “Daughters of Leucippus,” the close and precise observation of the fibers, tissues and corpuscles of torn fruit and vegetables is a way to examine the nature of living flesh more generally, with its universal processes of seduction, destruction and regeneration. The fruit acts as a surrogate for the human body.   To make this substitution more explicit, I have borrowed the title of a Peter Paul Rubens painting, “The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus” from 1618.  Several years ago at the Louvre, in Paris, I found my way to the Rubens' gallery. Teeming with anecdote and allegory, as alive to the sense of touch as to the eye, every inch of his majestic paintings seemed to swirl and twist under one’s gaze. It was as close to living flesh as any artist has every gotten with oil paint and brush.

Cognitve neuroscience suggests that the capacities to observe closely and to imaginatively project ourselves into what we see develop in tandem. As we gain experience, we are always comparing current perceptions with prior knowledge, developing hypotheses and conjectures in response to an ever changing, shifting world.  In these paintings, I invite you to look beyond a literal description of torn fruit, and see what else you might discover.

The original paintings are 36" x 60" and 48" x 60".  Click on any image to enlarge.