LENAVIDDOSTUDIO

Happy to say so long to my darling “Dr. Strangelove” as it is off to a new home. This piece was finally finished last week after working on it for over two years. It took on many manifestations over time. Unresolved, I would put it away for months at a time, and then revisit it with fresh eyes to climb to some higher ground.

While my paintings are cryptic propositions for the viewer to interpret, my own generative process is its own act of deciphering, tasked with solving the compositional riddle of symbols and figures born from my stream of consciousness approach.

Dr. Strangelove is a commentary on western cultural fantasies grounded in war and violence. It exemplifies the bizarre randomness of luck and privilege along with the apathy of the decadent and glamourous. Pointing to similar themes found in Stanley Kubrick’s film of the same title, “Dr. Strangelove,Or How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Bomb.” I explore sexual pathologies linked to war-making, the horrifying potential for humanity’s destruction through catastrophic folly of reckless military bureaucracy and masculine insecurity. The Unicorn, serving as knight in shining armor archetype, comes to our rescue, exemplifying and perpetuating patriarchal structures by promoting traditional, limiting gender roles. #oilpainting #unicorn #lenaviddo #stanleykubrickfilm #nyartist