acrylic on canvas
Images (c) 2002 Frank Wu
A portfolio piece, inspired by the never-ending madness in the middle east. Will the killing ever end? The quotation is from the Dylan song, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door": "Ma, put my guns in the ground - I can't shoot them anymore."
At 24 x 36 inches, this is the largest painting I've ever
done. It's in a grittier, grainier style than I've used before - as it
fits the somber mood of the piece.
Detail:
The model in the center is me, and I was regretting the things I'd done that hurt people, while working on this piece. My other two models were Jerry Oltion and Jay Lake, who kindly posed for me at NorwesCon '02:
Jerry and Jay
They did an incredible job capturing the regret and guilt I wanted, the wrenching despair of "Oh my gosh, what have we done?" (And I should thank artist Fiona McAuliffe for helping take some of the reference fotos.) Here are a couple other images: (1) an picture of Jerry (I actually painted this figure in at the far left, but then covered it up because it didn't work with the composition - sorry, Jerry, but you can see it if you X-ray the painting); (2) one of Jay; and (3) the tiny figure on the left hand side of the mound in background based on that foto.
Additional visual inspirations for this piece are Rodin's Burghers of Calais, the work of Giacometti and John Jude Palencar, and photographs of a distraught Mick Jagger, following the stabbing and near-rioting at the Altamont concert in 1969. I also spent a good many hours looking at fotos of the grieving faces of women whose children and husbands had been blown apart in car bombings and embassy blasts and attacks on buses.
When will we learn to live in peace?
This original piece of artwork, a 24 x 36 in. acrylic painting, is available for the paltry sum of $800. Please contact me for details.