"I Am Your Opus"

Acrylic Paint
40.6 x 50.8 cm
May 2010


This piece was inspired by Sylvia Plath's poem, "Lady Lazarus" (1962).


"...Them unwarp me hand and foot - -
The big strip tease.
Gentlemen, ladies


These are my hands
My knees.
I may be skin and bone...


I am you opus
I am your valuable,
The pure gold baby..."

          The piece focuses and embraces the tone of this poem (playful, angry, and proud) and the common theme of stripping away layers until one gets to the barest of states. This was also largely inspired by the fashion and theatricality of a strip tease. This reminded me of the movie, Nine, where Marion Cotillard's character sings the song "Take it All," emphasizing how her husband has taken everything from her (simultaneously, striping away her layers for the crowd, putting her words into a physical and theatrical performance).