Chinese Smoke Machine
2012 (4710) - 20" x 24" x 1.5" (50.8 x 61 x 3.8cm)
Acrylic, graphite, charcoal, newspaper, on gallery wrapped canvas
Finished with Liquitex Gloss #5016 & Golden Polymer Matte Varnish #7720-6 (top coat)
(Available - Inquire For Price)

 

January 23, 2012

Rabbit has been feeling very restless lately and having weird dreams. He seeks help from his psychologist friend, the pygmy two-headed giraffe.

Rabbit:
I had a another strange dream last night.

Giraffe:
Please tell me about your dream.

Rabbit:
I dreamt about getting a pet lizard.

Giraffe:
A very odd choice.
Do you feel the need for companionship?

Rabbit:
No, ... well maybe lately I have been feeling lonely.

Giraffe:
Please continue.

Rabbit:
The next thing I know, a giant golden egg appears out of nowhere ...
I look up in the sky and a UFO flies by and an alien waves to me.
I suspect the egg is of extraterrestrial origin.

Giraffe:
Do you prefer your eggs scrambled or sunny side up?

Rabbit:
(perplexted by Giraffe's nonsensical comment)
Neither, I don't eat eggs.
You know I only eat carrots.
What does that have to do with our conversation about my dream?

Giraffe:
Please continue

Rabbit:
(quickly recalling where he left off)
For some reason I was holding a potted cactus...
(Rabbit pauses waiting for an unconventional comment from Giraffe.)
Aren't you going to tell me it's some kind of phallic dream?

Giraffe:
No.
Cactus are not phallic.
Perhaps it implies a sticky situation ...
.. or maybe someone is trying to invade your space?

Rabbit:
(pauses while he contemplates whether or not to continue this seemingly pointless conversation)
The golden egg started shaking and the shell cracked open.
An enormous black lizard, with golden teeth, popped out of the egg.
It started blowing smoke at me and wouldn't stop.
I thought I was on fire.
What does this all mean?

Giraffe:
The answer is quite simple.
It's the year of the dragon.
Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Background:
I started this painting in November 2011, but it took several iterations to complete. The canvas was black at one point, and there was once an elephant. On New Year's Day, I covered all my past iterations and started over. I thought about the next Chinese Zodiac animal, so that's were the dragon came from. 2011 was the year of the rabbit. The dragon was originally flying, and later I decided it should be hatching from a golden egg.

The painting is on top of a Brooklyn Rail newspaper collaged canvas. I always underline words of interest within the articles and sometime create poetry from these words. No poem came from this painting, but the words "Chinese", "fog", and "machine" were among the many words underlined.

After the painting was nearly complete, I started thinking about the story. It's always a jigsaw puzzle trying to put the pieces together. What does a dragon hatching from an egg have to do with a rabbit holding a cactus? One morning, on my subway commute to work, I wrote the first draft. The UFO was missing from the painting so I sketched some UFO's on scrap paper and cut out the one I liked, then glued it to the painting. Incorporating the cactus into the story was a challenge, but once the story focused on Rabbit's dream, it all fit together.

You may notice that some animals make re-occurring appearances in my paintings. The pygmy, two-headed giraffe is one such character. Giraffe co-starred in a painting from 2010 called "Invisible". He played a psychologist helping out a mouse that was having re-occuring dreams. Giraffe agreed to play a similar role in "Chinese Smoke Machine" under the condition that I not typecast him for future roles.