If This Be My Destiny

I really like Spider-Man, if you couldn’t tell. I wanted to be Spider-Man when I was a child, and, in some ways, I still do because he makes me want to be a better version of myself. He inspires me to be resilient, disciplined, creative, and strong-willed. Historically, Spider-Man is confined to the pages of comics or the silver screen, but If This Be My Destiny brings him into the world of fine art painting to focus on one of his aspects that entices me most: perseverance.

This series of paintings captures moments in my journey of self-improvement and deconstructs the elements of what feeds my ability to persevere through my struggles by using Spider-Man characters as both personal avatars as well as representations of the characteristics that have positively and negatively influenced my ability to overcome my failures. Each painting makes references to specific comic narratives and draws connections between biblical stories to direct the overall narrative of the painting and convey the universal importance of persevering through personal failings. The paintings are arranged in a continuum. The central works are more virtuous in their influence on my development while the outer paintings focus on how taking certain characteristics to the extreme can create devastating pitfalls. The figures depicted are heavily motivated by symbolic associations, particularly when it comes to the costumes of the superheroes since the costume a superhero wears can say a lot about the narrative, psychological, and chronal associations being drawn upon in the work.

If This Be My Destiny is underpinned by perseverance. It is a tool that uplifts every aspect of a person’s life. Some may have an abundance of it or a deficit, but the initial amount is not so much as important as the consistent cultivation and growth of it. Perseverance does not ask a person to change who they are in their most essential form, it brings forth, it augments.

In my work, I share what has inspired me to cultivate perseverance so that other people seek out something to inspire them; even if it’s something as strange or as childish as a superhero, the effects of that inspiration can have significant impact on the quality of a person’s character and life.