Insouciant Effervescent Youth

ABOUT: To be young, free, and empowered is a feeling like no other. What if we felt no worry or guilt? Pure joy, freedom and love without boundaries? This series focuses on colour, freedom, a feeling of never ending nights on the town, and a reflection of self - or perhaps, overcoming blurred reflections of self - that move from faded ideation to focused images of our effervescent youth.

MEDIUM: Mixed Media (Book (bell hooks - “all about love”, to be specific), water colour pens, acrylic paint, ink, spray paint, then ink, acrylic and oil paint on vellum)

HOW IT'S MADE: Starting with pages from a thrifted bell hooks "about love" book, a simple collage acts as foundation for this piece. Various artist pen, water colour pens, and acrylic paint pens open up the piece, followed by spray paint in various vivid colours and weights/finishes (that's how we get the drips flowing into each other).

Once the background is set, digital drawings in GIMP by the artist are created, with digital manipulation to create the repetition and blur (this image was transposed 5 different times to get the weight of the blur just right). Then, using photo transfer of laser ink, ink, and acrylic paint is completed on vellum. Once dried, the artist uses a mix of artist spirits and mediums to create a translucent effect, then left to dry out - this is repeated multiple times until the exact desired effect is achieved. The vellum is then sealed and shape hand cut out to be adhered to the background. This piece then receives gamsol satin varnish to ensure longevity.