varnished version here

Without a doubt this was inspired by the Gustav Moreau exhibition not so long ago at the NGV …
there is quite a thing at the moment with portraying human bodies with animal heads…think people with cat or dog faces or lions heads…you’ll find them all around RB in photoshop and illustration work…
in classical mythology and its retellings we find the animal bodies with human heads, think centaurs and sphinxes…I’ve been wanting to tackle this theme and even tried to photoshop my head onto my cat’s body (unsuccessfully!)

Today I tackled a large canvas using the same technique as for my recent mythology series…some collage of weathered materials, some scribbly painting, trying very hard not to draw anything until something just pops up. In this one the hint of a mouth could be seen after a while and the eye (which apart from the black line is just a collage piece.

I’m so pleased and excited to have produced this strong character, the woman who eats people when they can’t answer the riddle! I love her twisted Escher-like body. This is a Greek Sphinx, winged and woman. I’ve even signed this one!!
The colours will come up brighter tomorrow when I varnish.

Acrylic and collage on fabric and cardboard
74 × 57 cm approx

weathered paper from my Disco Bundle more works here