The Pregnant Man

2012

diptych

oil on canvas

92 x 244cm

This was the final painting of 2012, made just in time for my exhibition, She Dreams of Liberation at Sydney’s Depot Gallery in early 2013.

For this, I continued work on two canvases of my own, which I had brought out from the UK. These predated Kundalini and had remained unfinished, in abstract form, wrapped in bubble wrap. These two canvases were left over from a whole bunch that I made and stretched for Tony when he visited London.

Recently I found the blurry image of this work as it was, below, and the only recognisable form is that of Mauao, Mount Maunganui, the extinct volcano that towers over the entrance to Tauranga harbour. I suspect this monolithic mountain lingers in the subconscious of anybody who has ever lived anywhere near it.

I have no clue what this painting is about. At one point there was a boat, a dinghy, but that soon disappeared. From that rose the ‘pregnant’ figure with the snake and later the ‘female figure’ on the left leaning across, all against the background form of Mauao. Looking at it now, this coifed ‘female’ echoes the figure in She Dreams of Liberation and perhaps even, Need.

Around the time of the making of this painting I was writing my streamed novel, The Time Capsule. It is likely that the writing of this work influenced this painting and possibly vice versa.

A while back, Becky was visiting my studio in Katoomba. After observing this painting for a moment she told me she thought the pregnant figure was our friend Craig. Recently, Adrian came to visit me and upon seeing the painting immediately intoned: ‘It’s a pregnant man!’

Previously this painting had the rather mundane title of 2012 No. 5. This year it’s called The Pregnant Man. Next year – who knows?