"Perpetua"

Now available through Haven Gallery at their latest show, "La Lune", open until July 31st, 2016.

"Perpetua" is a one of a kind 10x13 self portrait on metal print in an ornate 13x16 frame, hand embellished with 18k gold leaf. Please contact Erica at info@havenartgallery.com for purchase inquiries.

Martyred around 203 AD, Saints Perpetua & Felicity (often depicted together) were among the first recorded Named Saints. Before Vibia Perpetua's execution, she claimed the prison was so crowded with people that the heat was suffocating. There was no light anywhere and Perpetua "had never known such darkness." Yet she remained steadfast and full of hope. Portrayed here, waiting in the dark and even welcoming her fate as one of the first named mothers to be martyred, eager to join the Queen of Heaven, or The Star of the Sea. More commonly known today as the Mother of God. 

Originally created as a reference photo for my friend, Craww, I let this little project get out of hand. The task was to simply take a few portraits of various poses from a high angle, but I decided to design the space around me with shapes and objects that he likes to include in his work. So you could definitely say this was inspired by his artwork. I've been looking into highly conceptual composite photography similar to what my inspiring friend Kindra does, so I was enthusiastic when I saw that these photos turned out. I spent days editing the piece together into what it is now, with no real plan, just letting inspiration flow and accepting that a self portrait of my own somehow magically "worked."

This is one of the renderings Craww came up with based on some of my poses from this shoot:

For those of you who don't know, I recently began experimenting with Patreon, and have posted extensively about this photo to my members there. Most patrons have access to behind the scenes footage from this shoot as well as a time lapse video of my editing process, while higher tier members have access to the above, as well as a few substantial extras. Including a high resolution download of the finished photo, hi resolution photos of the principle photography from the shoot to take a good look at, along with the other components such as skulls and flowers for the patrons use in whatever way they wish, with the kicker being a 2+ hour long Photoshop tutorial, showing how I completed the image.

If you'd rather not subscribe to my monthly Patreon access (which includes many educational and fun incentives nearly daily), you can download the entire set I mentioned above from my Gumroad for a one time fee.

I'll be traveling to New York tomorrow to attend the opening reception at Haven Gallery! I hope to see you there.