Story behind the work: “Mint Drop”
‘Mint Drop’. 2021.
Oil on canvas.
During 2020 and 2021 I was experimenting a lot and one thing I was exploring was combining realism with my more imaginative contemporary style which favours saturated colours, geometric shapes and strong line. A solution, I thought, was combining realistic open source (ie no longer protected by copyright) images and reinterpreting them in new ways.
‘MInt Drop’ was one result. This painting is a reinterpretation of ‘Cleopatra’ by Baroque Italian artist Carlo Maratti (1625-1713). In this reimagining I have simplified some details and overemphasised others. I like how alone it looks traditional but once compared to the original the contrast in colour saturation and appearance of geometric shapes cements it as a contemporary rendition. Whilst I love going through the masterfully painted works of generations prior something that didn’t sit quite right with me was how the artists and works I came across were clearly from a different time in assumptions and values and therefore didn’t resonate with my own experience: very few woman artists, very few artists and subjects of colour, and women were rarely painted in a favourable light e.g. one that assumed their own right to autonomy and self actualisation. This piece by Maratti was an exception that I thought I could work with - I was particularly drawn to shape of the reflected light under her chin.
‘Cleopatra’ by Carlo Maratti.
Carlo Maratti was an Italian Baroque artist that lived between 1625-1713.
This contemporary rendition, though based on Maratti’s ‘Cleopatra’ is a departure from the original source and depicts someone else. Whilst Maratti’s painting references the tale of Cleopatra winning a bet by adding a pearl to her drink to provide the most costly feast, I replaced the pearl with a green Mint Drop to signify this paintings departure from the source material into something / someone new. In this painting there’s a voluptuous quality with the cascading fabric of her dress that I really like, and I love the purple fabric behind her where the fabric highlights almost doubles visually as purple lightning: a detail that therefore doubles as sumptuous but also ‘rock and roll’. To me she is strong and healthy, self assured, unapologetic and elegant.
