Orée

Behind the painting

The story of Orée.

I painted Orée in 2020 while I was going through a custody battle for all three of my younger children. It was a very difficult time in my life, and I had some very difficult decisions to make.

Part of me wanted to tell some people they could kiss my butt. But I could not say it aloud, so I painted it. Orée became a way to express that defiance through the figure on the canvas.

I used metallic acrylic paint on canvas, bringing her gold form out of a deep black background. Through Lumière Inversée, I built her body with light, allowing the illuminated contours to reveal her shape.

Her title carries that idea of an edge, where light meets shadow. The gold traces the boundaries of her body, revealing her through illumination.

Orée took less than five hours to paint. That short painting process holds a difficult chapter of my life. For me, she carries the feeling I needed to express when I could not speak it aloud.

Metallic acrylic paint on canvas · 24 × 36 inches · 2020