Mark Sheeky

"Emotional Blackmail 1"

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A painting about controlling behaviour, emotional blackmail. The painting tells a complex story starting at the bottom. The woman grasps at the leg of the man, as she points towards the noose, a threat of suicide. Her grasp wraps around his leg then plunges inside to his heart, probing its feeling, yet it comes out again, from an ear. His face looks away, not listening, his eyes turned to another purpose. Her thread continues, then dissolves like candle-smoke, thinly into a silence and a free flying butterfly... Surrealist paintings demand attention, and this shows how a complex emotional event can be portrayed, both in temporal and timeless fashion. Images can be read, like words, to tell a story as well as having an emotional impact in an instant. The complex frame is solid wood and has a wooden border decorated with a highly gloss and highly textured surface, like glass, jet, or some other black gemstone. This connects to the inner frame using four gold metal tubes. The effect is one of a shield of dark beauty which holds the central painting by fingertips in a delicate, reverent stasis.

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