
Michele Waldron-Cooper
Am I or Am I Not
Oil on Canvas 130cm x 150cm
Before entering this current lockdown, I managed to make a large canvas in our workshop. Little did I know that this canvas would become something that would help with my own mental health through this time. The characters face was a collaborative concept between my daughter and I, another aspect of lockdown, family members start to merge and feed ideas off of one another. Deciding to take this further, I started sketching and developing my ideas. The wings were something that gave this character an angel like presence, but the heavy-duty boots add a hard edge that gave it a feel of masculinity. The character also had to look crouched and ready to pounce.
The peonies I feel were a deep and personal reference to Princess Leia, my ultimate icon. The very lean physique was allowing the viewer to decide for themselves about sexuality, for me keeping an air of mystery about this was what happened in my drawings.
The comical bunny ears were just that, comical. Lipstick and long red fingernails were the feminine elements.
In my practice, my work tends to be on the large side so street art can heavily influence my ideas. For, ‘Am I or am I not’, I referred to artist, Etam Cru.
Find me on social media or click the link to my website here