Freedom to Love

Oil on Canvas - 48x60

The original painting was an emotional landscape that explored lust as a theme. It was more firery and sensual, but lacked any imagery. It always felt unfinished to me. The painting is now more of a political statement for a lack of freedom and hypocrisy in both China and the U.S. What's there? Maybe a skull, a woman, an American flag used as a blindfold, the Chinese symbol for freedom (distorted) and most obviously references to the Chinese flag.

In some ways, for an abstract, it is quite literal and full of rage. It was hard not to soften this painting. It's very out of my safety zone. It reminds me of an old beat-up Grateful Dead T-shirt I had in college, so it's a bit "rock and roll". I was inspired by some of my Chinese fans that have sent me heart-wrenching letters over the years, and the ones that traveled to London and Paris last year. So, I dedicate this to them. My father recently spent a month in China, and if it had worked out with my schedule, I would have loved to have gone with him.

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