Till Death Do Us Part

Part of a series and conceptual project, in each of the ship paintings and drawings I attempt to embody the psyche of the lover and imagine making the drawing or painting for the object of my desire. Each mark underscores the fervor of the written sentiment.

My feelings as the lover are projected – literally – onto each of the vessels: I inscribe the ship’s bow with my words. Each declaration is directed to my beloved; thus each of the paintings and drawings in this series function as metaphorical love letters. They carry within them the conviction that love, “this thing conceived, asserted, lived according to eternity (Roland Barthes),” will continue without end.

Till Death Do Us Part is the first large-scale tall ship painting. Here the words of the love letter transform into the utterance of formal marriage vows, and a bond that spans lives becomes the subject of the painting. Black sails underscore the somber reality of death, yet the ship sails on, focused on the life of the union referred to in the painting.