Ivan Chan female nude goth angel floral painting art

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Death as a Maiden

Size/18" x 24" x 0.5"  Medium/Oil and acrylic on canvas  Date/2008

Original Finger Painting by Ivan Chan

Story/How we see Death determines how we live life. Often depicted as a terrible and skeletal reaper eager to cut the breath from us, this is an image as foreboding and overexposed as a raven-winged angel, and inspires not gusto, but plastic surgery and fear that sends us scurrying to every life-extending trend pushed by an infomercial.

As an artist, one of my duties is to reimagine and offer alternative conceptions of what it means to be human. We grow, we love, we hurt, we die--we change, along with everything else in the universe, and so I share my vision of Death as a liberator, one who transports us from one state of being to another, surrounded not by traditional Western symbols such as the hourglass and skull, but by the Asian symbol for impermanence and the tender strength of life, the cherry blossom.

Against a background of difficult-to-photograph iridescent pearl, I've used vibrant reds, greens, yellows, and turquoise instead of the usual greys and blacks associated with Death. The wings, brown and silver, belong to a bird whose family is long-honored in ancient cultures such as Tibet and Egypt for carrying those who have died to the next world.

This ready-to-hang (no frame necessary), 18" x 24" Original Finger Painting is unique in its conception and a memento mori that encourages us to make the most of our lives. As Neil Gaiman's cheerful, goth-garbed Death says, "You get what anyone gets--you get a lifetime."

Authenticity/All work is guaranteed authentic. Signature (Chinese and English) and stamp on the back.

Policies/Payment, shipping & handling, and return information can be found below. Please contact Ivan Chan Studio with any questions.

Copyright/All rights reserved. No part of this artwork may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the artist.