Ephemeral Embrace

Comment

Comment by Michael Hecht on May 13, 2013 at 8:03pm

Kristen,  they are self-portraits.  When there is a female figure my wife is the model.  Although I am obviously meditating on my personal life when creating the work I intend for the figures to typically be timeless.  A writer friend of mine has described them as "everyman".  By exploring my inner life I hope that the material result of the work reveals something universally human.

Comment by Resident Curator on May 13, 2013 at 7:42pm

Hello Michael,  I'm glad you liked my observations about your work.  Can you tell me if these are self portraits, or if the male figure is just a favorite model?

Kristen

Comment by Michael Hecht on May 13, 2013 at 9:46am

Kristen,  Thank you very much for your enthusiastic and insightful comments!

Comment by Resident Curator on May 13, 2013 at 9:03am

Curator’s Comments:

 

I unequivocally love how these pieces combine surreal elements with more representational or mundane subject matter.  Assuming the drawings are intended as self portraits embedded in folk story or myth, they exert an eccentric and often times poetic consciousness in each encounter.  Ephemeral Embrace lacks the deep jeweled color present in some of the other images, but it has a layered subtlety in the modeling of the fleshy and the contrasting pale face of the seated subject.  No doubt the monotyping process added a depth of space and unpredictability to the ground.  The detailed blue-green textile patterned is an interesting controlled facet, echoed in the female figure’s delicate features, jewelry and wispy hair.  She appears as a stoic maternal character, withholding love through her reticent gesture.  The clinging male figure, strangely vulnerable in his nude state, doesn’t emotionally seek affection as his gaze pushes beyond their taciturn embrace. I also really enjoy the painting entitled On Celestial Wing.  Assuming the title is sardonic, the weight of the human head on the magnificent wings is beautifully uplifted by the painterly cerulean blue sky below.  But the matter of fact expression on the face denies the plausibility that something wondrous has, or is about to occur.