Senescence

Cotton fabric and acrylic with matte varnish on wood vessel

My work is an ongoing exploration of my gay male identity. I am influenced by the impact of the AIDS epidemic during the '80s and '90s, internal and external homophobia, sexual desire, and growing old.

My use of pansy imagery refers to its historical use as a disparaging term for a man or boy who was considered either effeminate or homosexual. The irony is that the pansy is a very hardy flower. A term once meant to be ugly and hurtful remaining resistant and pretty.

The definition of senescence, 1: the state of being old: the process of becoming old. 2: the growth phase in plant or plant part (such as a leaf) from full maturity to death.

As I age and my hair turns gray I become a silver pansy.