With humor and tenderness, this mixed media painting blurs the boundary between the wild and the refined. My chimps mirror human customs while remaining rooted in their own nature, suggesting that belonging often requires a costume. I wanted to invite reflection on the roles we play, the expectations we inherit, and the masks we wear to fit inside the box — or step outside it.
The clothes on the chimps are made up of pieces of painted monopirints that I created with a gel plate and collaged onto the piece. The Chimps themselves — heads, faces, etc., as well as the background were created with acrylic paint.
The piece is on a gallery wrapped canvas with painted sides.
It’s ape-solutely been a labor of love!
