I was commissioned to do this piece for a friend in my neighborhood who chose five or six other artists to create paintings surrounding this occurance. How I was to portray my idea surrounding this subject matter was completely up to me. It is not typically a topic I would choose seeing as most of my work is very bright and usually has to do with food or nostalgia, but I enjoyed the challenge. It was almost like being back in art school except that I am getting paid for this! (which is very awesome.) These paintings will be hanging in his office, he said, to serve as reminders that one person can make a difference.
There were so many avenues to take with this idea and not knowing what the other artists were doing was actually helpful. So far, I have yet to see the other paintings. Trying to get into someone else's head space can be tricky. From what he told me, I felt it somewhat difficult to cultivate a painting that would mean something to him, yet coming from my perspective...as though I were to be just a passionate about this topic. In fact, I did find my own perspective having recently watched the Shawshank Redemption (for the 100th time) and listening to Maria Callas sing over the loudspeaker in the scene where Andy defies the guard's authority and influences the other prisoners for just a moment of serenity by playing her music. I began the painting listening to Maria and the rest just came. I have no statements about my feelings on Tiananmen Square except that it must have been just as frightening to see this headless zombie-like man holding groceries in front of your tank as it was for the man to be confronting a faceless driver.
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