“Mid Morning”

Mid Morning an homage to my family before my sister and I were born, when my parents were still in love. In it, my two kid-brothers, my parents, aunt, and grandmother eat breakfast at our old house in Ibiza.

I chose to include my cat, Toby, as a representation - a stand-in - for myself in the scene. I never saw my parents in love, so I was not a witness to them falling out of love, either. It all happened before I was conscious, really. And in the word - falling - either in, or out, is the implication of a misstep, a downward flight. I choose not to see love in this way. To me, it is an ascension, or, a stairway (and yes, one that you may always climb down)… but crucially, to me, the directional force of love is forward and upward.

This was a painting I had to start, then scrap, then restart. Working with raw linen, I confused a primer coat with an underpainting coat, and mistakenly drenched my canvas in linseed oil, which seeped through the back of the material. Humiliated, I tried to cover up my mistake - but all of my peers already knew my secret (an enormous vertical grease stain spanning the studio wall). My second attempt is the one shown above. The first — somewhere in a chemical waste bin.