"Self-portrait as John the Baptist" (2025)

Acrylic
36 x 36 inches

I painted this piece for a group show I participated in called 'About Face'. I wanted to create something that was disconcerting without being grotesque. Confronting the gaze of a human head at such a large scale is inherently a bit alarming, particularly a decapitated one! Similarly, I wanted to counter the Biblical subject matter familiar to the "Western Art Canon" and found in the Renaissance Wing of every venerable art institution, with a vibrant, modern palette that evoked an appealing putrescence. This is part of a long series I've been working on of "doomed prophets"- those who could see what was coming but were destroyed by their knowledge.