INSTANT ORANGE CRUSH

INSTANT ORANGE CRUSH (2018)

[STAY GOLD series]

Acrylic on canvas (unframed)

50.5 x 50.5cm

February 2018

Heathcliff, it’s me, Coralie. Come home, I’m so cold. Let me in through your window. ~ Kate Bush

So, millenials, before Lorde there was Kate Bush. Things I have in common with this babooshka: born in Kent, went to school in Ashford, lived in Eltham (London, Straya… whatevs), read Wuthering Heights, and became the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a self-written song, aged just 19. Last one just Kate actually. Also technically 1978.

The woman with burning sunset eyes is called Coralie. At first I thought Coral because it sounds a bit Eighties, but I think she’s on a French beach in the Med so… you know. Then I googled it: “Coralie” is a popular 19th century jewel baby name from the name of the pink semi-precious sea growth used to make jewellery and ornaments. Cha-ching! We’re on the same page.

INSTANT ORANGE CRUSH is inspired by sun worship, the beach sunsets of oversized 1980s wallpaper posters and the overblown pop love songs by empowered diva heroines of the same decade. It explores the nostalgia we feel for past loves through rose tinted sunglasses and questions the idea that nothing gold can stay.

This painting has been powered by Whitney, Tina, Annie, Madonna and Kate.

 

I See You opens 6-8pm on Thursday 1 March at  Incube8r Gallery, 321 Smith Street, Fitzroy. A group exhibition focussing on portraiture, the theme explores Lovers, Idols, Heros: a window to the soul. Artists provide portraits of the subjects they care about, be they those they hold dear, or those they idolise completely. Exhibition runs until 13 March.