The Violence In Our Hearts

25 Collages, 2018

Into these famous compositions, I have inserted a knife. My additions are made of paper and were cut from a magazine called Knives Illustrated. In collaging these little weapons, I claim the subjects as members of the knife club. With this little gesture, I have altered their narratives. Instead of figures passive in their spaces, we now have a view into the secrets, hidden plans, and burning urges of the subjects. The knives are all clean and bloodless, not yet used, their power still unspent.

As extensions of our bodies, our tools are an extension of our will. What do we will, as a species? Violence. Aggression. Dominance. We endeavor to improve our natural bodies with tools and we do it with sharpened steel and projectiles and explosives. And we make these things beautiful. They are sleek and carefully designed. Our weapons are disappointing portraits of our inner nature. Even the descriptions of our violent objects are often metaphors for beauty and glory and success. It is who we are. It is what we are. So many of us are lost to our aggressive desires.

(If You Know What's Good For You) - SOLD!
The Three Graces after Lucas Cranach the Elder

(Fantasies Of The Bullied)
Pierrot, formerly known as Gilles after Jean-Antoine Watteau

(It Was All Fun And Games) - SOLD!
The Virgin And Child With The Young St. John The Baptist also known as La Belle Jardiniere

(Always By Her Side) - SOLD!
Madam Recamier, Born Julie (Said Juliette) Bernard after Jacques-Louis David

(Two Thistles, Really)
Self-Portrait, or Portrait Of The Artist Holding A Thistle after Albrecht Durer

(A Strong Urge) - SOLD!
Woman With A Mirror after Titian

(Practice Makes Perfect) - SOLD!
Child With A Spinning Top after Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin

(She Didn't Need It After All) - SOLD!
The Valpincon Bather after Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin

(Ever The Difficult Child) - SOLD!
Master Hare after Sir Joshua Reynolds

(Flinching Was Against The Rules)
Self-Portrait With A Friend after Raphael

(I Swear Upon This Knife) - SOLD!
Angel Holding An Olive Branch after Hans Memling

(Choices) - SOLD!
Venus And Cupid Discovered By A Satyr, also known as Jupiter And Antiope after Correggio

(No, You Can't Hold It)
Portrait Of Francois I, King Of France after Jean Clouet

(You're Next!) - SOLD!
St. Apollonia after Francisco de Zurbarán

(He Liked It Because He Needed Both Hands) - SOLD!
Portrait Of A Young Man With A Statuette after Bronzino

(She Absolutely Hated Messy Polish) - SOLD!
Bathsheba With King David's Letter after Rembrandt

(She Preferred Excitement) - SOLD!
The Lady In Blue after Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

(He Even Slept With It) - SOLD!
The Virgin And Child With St. John The Baptist And St. Catherine Of Alexandria after Perugino

(She Called It Her Beloved)
Portrait Of Anne Of Cleves after Hans Holbein the Younger

(Her Games Scared Him) - SOLD!
The Odalisque after Francoise Boucher

(Cold Is Better Than Bare) - SOLD!
Portrait Of A Black Woman after Marie-Guillemine Benoist

(Victor Over Her Own Goliath) - SOLD!
Saint Mary Magdalene after Gregor Erhart

(It Helped Him To Think) - SOLD!
Seated Scribe

(A Woman And Her Clumsy Husband) - SOLD!
The Moneylender And His Wife After Quentin Metsys

(Let Me Do This) - SOLD!
Portrait Of An Old Man And A Boy after Domenico Ghirlandio

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