a body of work
Main Acts I through X in Cruel Summer constitute the body of work's conceptual and emotional core. Produced over a twenty-two month period from May 2023 until March 2025, all ten pieces were subjected to a contractual agreement between the artist and a primary client who was given a share in the creative process. The client's approval of the figure in each piece was a required prerequisite to their actualization, and thus his desires became tangible. The artist consented to this arrangement as a means of financial survival during this period of time, and the changing circumstances of his life; his ongoing dialogue with the client; and his own machinations directly impacted the work piece after piece and month after month.
The Main Acts follow several narrative threads that manifest and grow in varying degrees of secrecy. A body of work undertaken for survival quickly became a vexing and arduous journey in which a struggling artist actively employed the challenges as fodder for his expression. Simultaneously, a scheme was underway to leverage this body of work as a means of attracting additional viewers and patrons—thus the choices and non-choices of all those watching were given a share in the course of action. While these plans failed to manifest to his desired outcome, the artist instead netted something more.Through introspection and earnest transparency, Cruel Summer would leave Main Act X and enter a new movement transpiring with Main Act XI, The Labyrinth.
The Main Acts follow several narrative threads that manifest and grow in varying degrees of secrecy. A body of work undertaken for survival quickly became a vexing and arduous journey in which a struggling artist actively employed the challenges as fodder for his expression. Simultaneously, a scheme was underway to leverage this body of work as a means of attracting additional viewers and patrons—thus the choices and non-choices of all those watching were given a share in the course of action. While these plans failed to manifest to his desired outcome, the artist instead netted something more.Through introspection and earnest transparency, Cruel Summer would leave Main Act X and enter a new movement transpiring with Main Act XI, The Labyrinth.

nouveau slavish | 2023 | 21 inches x 14 inches | 109.5 hours | SOLD