Slash n’ Axl

Axl and Slash [2017]

The sheer appearance of Axl and Slash alone is enough to make a mute want to sing, but it was the intensity of their sound that dug out of me the artist that I am today. The freedom of being so honestly vulnerable, openly angry, and sexually charged is everything I needed as an adolescent and, still, as an attempting to function member of society. I began drawing Slash when I was 14 years old, only a few years before I began painting. I was motivated by why these men made music and this brought an intensity to my life in ways I can’t put into words. I feel as though I was being introduced to God in the sense of an entirely creative phenomenon, an idea, an overarching power that exceeds mortality. This is what drove me to paint, this is what forced me to become an artist.

This pair of paintings, beginning with Slash, was my first breakthrough. After studying the men for years, I finally saw the the yellows, the reds, and the blues present in their photos. I had never painted in this technique before and it is still the technique I use today, although its evolved tons. These two are 22X30 inches and currently hung in a close friend’s music studio.