The Offering

A series of four paintings, each focused on a different element: water, earth, metal, and air. Each element evokes a very different environment and, more importantly, a different manifestation of the totality to which our golden beauties are about to merge with. The erotic need not, indeed should not, be limited merely to the human realm.
Painting of a nude male, arms overhead and head leaned back in a posture of some distress, standing over another figure, possibly himself prone on the ground. Behind them is a swirly angry sky dominated by a red planet. In front of them shotgun shells are floating forward and being transformed into passion flowers.

A passive male figure is not unheard of in Western art, but passive in the form of a willing offering of themselves is not so common. It’s something I wanted to explore more in this work (and two more in the series). While the offering could have taken the form of something more mundane like a religious or political allegory, I wanted to instead go deeper. What if the offering is being made to something inhuman, otherworldly? Well then you have the subversive thrill of a male figure, usually associated with control and power, willingly giving in to, seeking union with larger elemental forces.

Painting of a golden-hued muscular nude male from behind, standing alluringly on a rock surrounded by ocean waves. Menacingly dark tentacles are rising from the water and circling the seemingly calm beauty.

Offering 1: Water, a tentative resolve

Dimensions: 20 in x 16 in

Medium: Oil on panel

Year: 2022

Available for purchase

$500

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Painting of a naked, golden-hued, muscular male writing in delight against a dark and menacing tree atop a rocky hill.

Offering 2: Wood, roots of desire

Dimensions: 20 in x 16 in

Medium: Oil on panel

Year: 2022

Available for purchase

$500

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Painting of a muscular, nude male kneeling in a posture of supposition before swirling metal tentacles against an otherworldly desert background punctuated by metallic looking ruins.

Offering 3: Metal, adamantine embrace

Dimensions: 20 in. x 16 in.

Medium: Oil on panel

Year: 2023

Available for purchase

$500

Email me

Painting of a nude male, arms overhead and head leaned back in a posture of some distress, standing over another figure, possibly himself prone on the ground. Behind them is a swirly angry sky dominated by a red planet. In front of them shotgun shells are floating forward and being transformed into passion flowers.

Offering 4: Air, change is in the wind

Dimensions: 20 in. x 16 in.

Medium: Oil on panel

Year: 2023

Available for purchase

$500

Purchase now Email me

Part of a series exploring male vulnerability, this painting is inspired by the opening of an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel where the protagonist finds himself magically transported to Mars--in the buff! This quirky detail captured my imagination and led to a depiction of that mysterious moment where the aggressive male hero is suddenly disrobed, disarmed, and vulnerable. It's an exquisite moment of possibility, of transformation. Unfortunately, in the Burroughs novel, patriarchal values and manly virtue are restored. But here, in this moment, maybe our hero will pick a different path?