My Autobiography Inside a Painting
A deep dive into the story of me sending my autobiography inside a painting to South Africa
The Macaque and the Octopus
It all began in May 2020. I had just started painting (at a time before my 3 Words Project developed).
With no particular direction I painted a Macaque day dreaming about an Octopus it had once seen. Quite an isolating experience this is, for all its other Macaque friends have no idea what an Octopus is. This particular Macaque will likely never see the Octopus again, and will never get answer for any of their questions about it.
Approximately 7 months later…
…watching My Octopus Teacher
Shortly after sending a few of my paintings to Europe in Jan 2021, I decided to take a break from painting. One afternoon I decided to watch My Octopus Teacher on Netflix, about Craig Foster from South Africa documenting his journey following the life one particular octopus.
While watching this I was reminded of the Macaque and Octopus painting I had made the year before. It felt for the first time that I finally understood what that painting really meant and what it was about to lead into. Such a peculiar feeling, I felt compelled to reach out to Craig Foster from the documentary and explained my 3 Words Project and invited him to give me 3 words of his choice and I shall gift him a painting.
“Then I remember”
-Three Words by Craig Foster (19th Jan 2021)
April 2021
Painting is complete
This is the longest duration I have spent with 3 words to complete a painting, and for a very good reason.
“Then I Remember” ended up being the painting for which I embedded my autobiography inside.
I decided that instead of sharing my life story in a book for everyone to read, I would rather it be inside this particular painting. Several dozens of iterations of brain storming took me this final piece.
Then I Remember appears to be the perfect 3 Words that triggered the most marvelous several dozens of iterations of planning and several months of drafting that that eventuated in this final piece.
This side is a direct reference to the first Macaque painting I did last year. Without that painting, I would not have been sparked by wonder and awe when watching My Octopus Teacher. This painting depicts the same story as the Macaque except from the perspective of the Octopus (instead of the Macaque). The Octopus can see the world in a way that no one else can see or understand.
One simple encounter can lead into something far more astronomical than what is let on or seen by anyone.
This side contains hand rolled paper coils, the art of quilling. The 8 arms of yellow coils have my life story handwritten inside them, then surrounded by coils of the ocean. All of these coils are glued to the base Almost analogous to throwing my story in a glass bottle into an ocean. No one really knows what will happen, will it ever be read or will it all remain a in the ocean forever.
Inside the yellow coils in the middle of the painting, I have written out my life story in detail never disclosed to anyone ever before. All glued to the Golden Sea Bed underneath.
To read the story, one must destroy the painting.
Or one may choose to keep the painting alive but keep the story hidden forever.
The Golden Sea Bed covered by layers of story, secrets, life, and mystery. This is the base on which the paper coils have been fixed upon.
There are 8 yellow arms, each yellow coil contains details of a different part of my life story. Together these 8 arms lay out the contents of what would have been my autobiography book.
Hand rolling the rest of the ocean. Now my story is within an ocean I had created. A story I finally have been able to comfortably part ways with.
June 2021
Painting makes it way to South Africa
After a very long convoluted transit through America, France, and UK, the painting made its way to Craig Foster to South Africa.
This piece is the physical manifestation of the most life-altering experience of my life. The content it represents, the connections I had made, the layers of story this painting has, how this painting came to fruition, and the fact that the weight of my biggest story is elsewhere oceans away from where I am, still floods me with great awe to this day.
After this painting, I discovered a new zeal to explore and study the world again unburdened by my life story that had been weighing me back.
The journey from this painting has not ended, it has merely begun.