This is a very personal and special commission I’ve had in mind for years. It was an absolute pleasure to have commissioned Guttertongue (Twitter) to bring this into being. She actually made some stickers for me a while ago, which have remained my favorite interpretations of my character with her style, particularly for maintaining realism while managing to capture so much emotion (hard to do with monstrous characters with scales and all!).
I won’t elaborate on the exact meanings of this painting, but I have written a poem to accompany the piece. I’ve toyed with it over several months by changing several stanzas but think it’s in a pretty good place now.
Black and Blue
black shrouds blue
my corner
far from you
and the zoo
my inward bend
pulls me deeper
a soul to tend
and mind to mend
anxiety’s slave
Timothy’s brother
bound in Plato’s cave
a mute pauper’s grave
self-care—I isolate
in self-hate—I chatter
self-harm—I instigate
in self-love—I stagnate
I drown in the air
and choke on water
my being to bear
nomadic despair
when blue sheds black
I’ll feel better
and off my back
but cut me slack
for some space
to confer
and keep pace
face to face