05/02/24 - Jig Young - Self Portrait. The seed.
I’ve never resonated with a painting so much in my life.
I’ve had this image in me for a long time. I could never capture it. never express it until today.
This is my self-portrait.
A young prince holding a gun. Ready for action. He wears a devilish crown and a fur cape draped over his right shoulder as he walks boldly into the golden sun with a sense of radiating optimism about life & world.
He’s seen leaving behind his empire but he never leaves it. It’s always there. It’s his shadow. The demons he’s conquered.
Sometimes, he’s seen reflecting and staring down his demons. Sometimes he’s walking towards the sun. It’s hard to tell. He’s doing both.
This painting captures the essence of inner darkness & demons that live inside me. I conquered the darkness by merging into the brightness of color - by having a sense of radiating optimism about life and the world.
This is the same seed I’ll be nurturing & exploring for all the other derivative works you’ll be seeing.
It will follow the same style: a dark (human shape) as he descends down from the heavens to hunt down at the bottom with his shadow reflected in a sea of paint.
Notice the shadows. Notice the power that we locked away.