In December, Hunter & Gatti, a cool New York-based fashion/art magazine, highlighted some of my works. This reminded me to tell you a bit about one of my favourite works titled subterranean paradise.
subterranean paradise was a commission from a very dear friend who wanted something with depth, masculinity and in rich hues of blue. There was also one criteria. No hidden wildness like a bikini top or a boot that at times sneak into some of my works.
I decided to do the piece entirely in deep blue, trying to capture the grace, harmony and gracious underwater flow. The memory of the mind-blowing and awe- inspiring drop-offs and deep blue abyss of Santa Rosa dive site in Cozumel became the starting point. It was a good challenge to work only in one colour, play with variations of it and search for blue-only cut-outs. It was hard to keep the naughtiness in check though. But I did my best. Interestingly enough some of the cut-outs came from 2009 issue of Vogue featuring the Obamas, shot by Annie Leibovitz. I did use part of the President’s blue dress shirt and his whole tie somewhere there. Look close to see if you can find them.So in the end the piece got a touch of presidential vibe and masculinity too. But above all, I hope the painting captured the mysteriousness and grace of the underwater paradise that I had in mind.
Thanks H&G for inspiring me to talk about this.
