In the painting the artist experiments with the use of montage and surrealism.

Strikingly contemporary and simple in concept it opens to a deeper theme of eroticism, sex, family and escaping the restrictions of a loveless life.

‘Life Unzipped’ Private Collection

‘Life Unzipped’ unites each separate side by its themes of Desire. The Desire on the male side to control and the desire on the female side for escapism. It is a painting dealing with a woman, her reality and her dream. She wishes to ‘unzip’ her current life to escape to another one. Underneath the Zip one can see flesh the women’s nakedness, bearing her real self, no longer hiding her emotions. As she tries to unzip her current life is the zipp being fastened from a different directions? Is there a war on control of another’s life No matter which way the ‘zip’ is pulled, it can never be fully undone as there is a gold block stopping it in the centre of the zip, which is also the nucleus of the painting. No matter what happens, life cannot be fully ‘unzipped’. There will always be some connection, no matter how small, that can never be undone.

Throughout the painting there is a theme of allure of submission.

On the male side of the painting one can feel a subtle layer of her subconscious mind with her thoughts, endurance and strength depicted by her expression in her cage in the bottom right of the painting. There is also a hint of a darker sexual desires.

On the female side of the painting, her relationship with her lover can be interpreted by the sultry, softer brushstrokes of the artist uses compared to the relationship with her oppressor interpreted by the harder flat strokes on the male side of the painting.

Interestingly the artist has created a deceptive symmetrical balance which creates a sense of perfect harmony contradicting the imbalance of man and woman, submission and dominance, dark and light and the forces of nature.

Background Colour of Red

The artist purposely uses red as the predominant colour in the background. You can almost feel the sex. The energy, passion, love, burning desire, power is created in the bold use of colour, whilst the use of swirls of blacks on the male side give ways to the presence of danger, sexuality at its darkest. Simmerly on the female side the red is a softer lighter velvet. A warmer more passionate place not occupied by the sinister black moods.

The Colour Blue

The woman in the female side is cushioned in a swirling sea of pure blue and draws her lover to join her as she basks in her sexual freedom. You sense her complete abandonment and trust to her lover as she enjoys her sexuality and power. Another interpretation for the colour blue is that it represents the warm water or a sea. Is this where the women has escaped to be with her lover. Does she wish to escape to another country. If we take this interpretation in conjunction with the crest of Mexico, depicted in the bottom left of the painting, is that where her desires are, is that where she has gone?.Is the female side Mexico or Mexican?

The Colour Green

The three cages in the male gold circle are encircled by the colour green. This represent the feelings of; jealousy and envy. A man, one assumes the husband, is depicted astride the circle. The same blackness runs through the green as does the red. There is however another crest in the bottom right hand corner of the painting, the crest of the County of Kent. The green may also represent the County of Kent, also known as The Garden of England. Green is also the colour of fertile land. Is the women a captive on a farm and the circle are its fences. The green may also represent female fertility, reinforcing the ties of family with the three cages being three children and the circle the wedding ring.

Green also is also symbolic of hope which translate in her dreams to escape. It also represents innocence and feeling fresh and alive. She remains captive but evergreen as she continues to grow.

The Golden Rings

Looking at the painting first glance the ancient symbolic reference is that of the circles with the male and female symbols. The symbolic circles can almost be depicted as sacred spheres, heavenly bodies Mars and Venus, golden halos, with the use of gold leaf symbolizing the relationship and bondage between man and woman. The ornamentation and use of gold possibly represent a two dimension representation of marriage bonds and rings, the religious relationship with the Creator and the circle of life of man and woman.

The use of gold is indicative of the central theme. The circles almost feel heavy, oppressive and all encompassing. However there is a sharp contrast with the shape itself. With no sharp lines it feels more yielding to the touch, the sensual soft curves of a woman, and therefore malleable. It is remnant of earthly weight and holds life. Maybe the circles symbolises the very core of life, the woman’s womb and man’s natural gravitation towards that sacred place. Do they represent bondage on the male side, the bondage of marriage, and a halo of ecstasy on the female side.

Notice the different depths of the circles. Again it can be argued that the wider gold circle is because the woman has found fulfillment in her choice of submission and is radiating a stronger glow whilst on the right hand side the different cages are the desires from the woman held captive in the cage. She is clearly imprisoned, her physical being dominated but her soul and mind remain hers. Hence her facial expression remains somewhat cerebral and beautiful.

There is almost a sense that the spheres are floating and rotating against natural forces in parallel with the zips or more instinctively they move in the same direction and gravitate to the center of the zip.

There are three cages depicted, one caging her heart, stopping her from loving, one depicting money, stopping her independence and one that caged the butterfly, representing her soul. This cage is open. She found the key to open it. The Butterfly, her soul, escapes and flies upwards towards the mystery man at the top of the female ring. This is her true love, her soul mate. His presence has unlocked that cage and freed her soul.
Is there another meaning to the three cages? Do they also represent the married woman’s three children? Are they also what is holding her within the golden circle as this part of the chains of the bondage of marriage?

The Butterfly

The butterfly, symbolic in its simplicity, as it flutters to the right, is an indication that she wants to change her life to such an extreme that she is unrecognizable at the end of the transformation, as a caterpillar to a butterfly, and is in control of not only her mind but her body. The artist subtly conveys the woman’s journey as she transcends, having the power to change the path of her destiny.

The Men

There are two men depicted in the painting. Both astride the each golden circle, standing on crests. One is on the male side and one on the female. These are the two dominant men in her life. The man on the male side represents the husband. Although standing in an inquisitorial interrogative way he is diminutive in stature, and painted in a faded grey. He has no emotional presence for her. Interestingly he is wearing the horns of a cuckold which indicates that she has already taken a lover or is ready to do so. The crest symbolizes the family name or location. In contrast the man on the right, her lover, is strongly outlined in black, reflecting the glow of a full silver moon, a moon she makes her wishes on. His stance is confident, bordering on arrogance, he is finely dressed, standing on his crest. This man is a gentleman and her ideal. In both sides the man is dominant over the women. On the female side because she wants it. On the male side because she has no choice.

The Five Gold Squares & the Four Other Symbols

There are five gold squares in the painting. Two at each corner and one in the centre.

These are taken to represent the five members of her family. Four of the gold squares sit below individual symbols. In the top right hand corner the gold square sits below the painting of a Cuckoo bird. The bird is the symbol of a cuckold and so represents the husband. In the bottom right the gold square sits below the crest of the County of Kent. It symbolizes one of her children, in Kent, still in the sphere of the male side. In the bottom left the gold square sits below the crest of Mexico and represents the women. In the top left the gold square sits below a teenage boy, of school age, with a packed suitcase. This represents another son. One which is under her influence and maybe going with her to Mexico. The gold square in the middle could represent a third child. One that is not in ether the female or male sphere. This depicts that they are independent, maybe married and has left the care of their parents.

The Use of Silver Leaf

Both the Butterfly and the moon are painted in silver leaf. The colour silver has a feminine energy; it is related to the moon and the ebb and flow of the tides – it is fluid, emotional, sensitive and mysterious. It is soothing, calming and purifying. Does it also symbolise Mexico, a predominant producer of silver.

The Use of Gold Leaf

This use of gold leaf in the painting is linked to masculine energy and the power of the sun and could reflect perhaps the Sun God Helios, compared to silver which is associated with feminine energy and the sensitivity of the moon. At the uppermost level, and as used in the female side of the painting, this is a colour which is associated with higher ideals, wisdom, understanding and enlightenment. It inspires knowledge, spirituality and a deep understanding of the self and the soul.

If living under the negative influence of gold, as in the male side of the painting, one may not trust easily, it symbolises selfishness and demanding, lacking kindness and generosity.