Moist

Original hand drawing using ink pen & indian ink on 640gsm Fabriano watercolour paper with deckled top and bottom edges.

Created for my first solo art show, PrettyUgly in the tail end of 2019.

A word that is one of the most controversial, offensive to many, a simple adjective to others.
In 2012, Twitter users voted to have the word removed from the English language. This piece is designed to be both beautiful and challenging, depending on your beliefs. Moist is one of those words that people despise for many reasons - the way the letters sound irritates our ears and the images conjured up by natural bodily functions grosses people out.

For me, it's an adjective, nothing more. I wanted to play on the offense caused by the word. Contained within a flowing iris petal shape are plenty of moisture loving plants, a female weta, tree frog, a NZ flax snail, glow worms hanging in a damp cave. The viewer has to work to see the main image, hills that form a woman lying back with her thriving 'lady garden', a well placed iris and subtle lettering in the vines.

The idea is the viewer will see the details first, then realise there is more to the image - changing the initial reaction.