My name is Will Eskridge and I am a working artist in Athens, Georgia. My latest series, “Confectionery Outcasts” celebrates feared and stigmatized animals while exploring what we perceive as good and evil.
These paintings feature a motley crew of animal outcast portraits including bats, snakes, and opossums juxtaposed with sweet confections hovering above the animals. I surround each portrait in gold leaf, similar to byzantine iconography. The portraits are then painted in a loose and brightly colored approach that decidedly derail from classicism to enter the realm of humorous modernism. It is no mistake that these portraits of maligned creatures are elevated to saint status, as gold leaf was traditionally reserved for beings of nobility. A variety of confections such as cinnamon rolls and cake act as a blessings while donuts intentionally double as halos for the cursed creatures.
Through myths and folklore, these wonderful creatures have been maligned and treated like yesterday’s garbage by society. I hope to change these perceptions through his paintings. If we would just take the time to admire them instead of fearing and thus ousting them due to myths and misunderstandings, we would realize how beautiful and important these creatures truly are. The series is an extension of loving our neighbor and looking beyond prejudgement. Now more than ever we could all use some ‘love thy neighbor’ attitude.
More info: willeskridge.com
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