Restraint - Walled
Restraint - Walled (2008)
11½×18¼ Pastel on Pastel Paper
Original is Sold
Concluding my three-part Restraint series, Walled represents the final push against the boundaries that confine us. In the anonymity of the shadowy darkness, we shed our inhibitions and behave in ways we would never dare to in the daylight. Whether confronting self-imposed limits or the rigid walls built by society, the darkness offers the freedom to let our inner beast loose and break those barriers down entirely. As the final self-portrait in this conceptual exploration, this piece pushes the dark, sexually charged tone to its peak. Just like with Caged and Fenced, I set aside my usual aversion to working on black paper to achieve this heavy, dramatic shadow. Setting up my camera in a dark room with just a single light source allowed me to venture outside my typical methods, effectively breaking my own artistic restraints to bring this theme to life.
