It Was a Fish Swimming in the Depths to Avoid Getting Caught

[SOLD] “It Was a Fish Swimming in the Depths to Avoid Getting Caught.”

Oil on unprimed paper. 9 x 12 in.

2023.

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It’s an amusing experience when you get to feel the fish nibble at your feet as you wade through water and swim in the ocean. Every day was spent at the beach while we were visiting south Florida in the summer of last year. Partly to see family and partly to escape reality.

It seemed as if the fish didn’t want to waste their precious time waiting to see if they could find something to eat off our bodies and would go at it as soon as they had the chance to. Maybe they were just curious and investigating the unfamiliar presence in their environment. Regardless, I thought it was quite entertaining.

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While making this piece I couldn’t stop thinking about the many painters that successfully portrayed this same theme. The first one of course was the undefeated Sorolla & his “The White Boat, Javea.” But then Munch found his way to my thoughts also with his “Bathing Boys”.

Scott Tuke followed, then Bellows, and how could one forget Eakins.

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The back seemed more fitting than the front of the model. And I wonder if this is Friedrich’s rückenfigur influence which has been prevalent throughout my life. An idea that conveys a sense of melancholy & emotional isolation, a certain longing.

The fish simply are a compositional tool and storytelling device. Why are they surrounding the subject? Why are they hovering over the surface of the water? What are they looking for and what is their relationship to this young man?

This certainly is a self-portrait of sorts although I didn’t partake in swimming in the nude, it seemed more fitting and timeless, especially taking into consideration the aforementioned paintings. Not that such concepts pervade my thoughts and mind at any given moment.

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January 12th. 2024 – 3:54PM.