The beginning of my infatuation with burlesque

First, it's been a very long time since I've made a post to this blog.  Over the course of the last 5 years after leaving the MFA program at Pratt, I've watched my work change and grow.  First and for most my work's subject matter took a bit of a drastic change, which I think is good for me.  I was making works about couples and their situations which seemed to hold my interest for a while. After attending lecture by Eric Fischl, I knew I wanted to try something similar.  He spoke about his process and his thought process about  and how he used his models in his kredfield project.  I set out to try something similar and the first project New Domestic was exciting and fresh and then Interior Situations was just as exciting but I didn't have the same intensity about it.

Around the same time, I attended my first burlesque show. Still new to New York City, I walked into some small venue in Williamsburg and there were rolls of chairs, yellow walls and gold curtains.  I actually did not know anything about Burlesque or knew what I was getting to as I ventured out to see my friend of thirteen years or more now perform.  This show was called Last Night at the Starliner Lounge, which played out more as a film noir rather then a set of individual shows.  I was blown as my friend Broadway Brassy, blasted out different songs during the performance.  This is what burlesque was, a comical theatrical performance featuring characters who striped.  What is not to like, but I was wrong thinking all burlesque was like this.

After seeing this show, I didn't jump right into the scene but rather continued on with my life and painted the couples.  A year or so later my friend's show was the Wednesday night show in Soho at Corio, here I had the chance to meet my first burlesque performer. Lefty Lucy, she also turned out to be my first burlesque model as I was seeking a change in my work.  One night while she was in my studio modeling, she invited me to a show on the lower east side.  I went in thinking it was going to be similar to the only show I had seen in many different incarnations, but came out a shocked.  This was show was completely different and from there, I started venturing out to the different shows.  Now I find myself at a show at least two to three times a month and I always have fun. 

Below are the first two works I created of Lefty Lucy.