Aodán Feeney

Dead Weight, 2022

Oil on canvas | Unframed: 70 x 50 cm; Framed: 74 x 54 cm

‘Dead Weight portrays my friend McKenzie. The subject’s pensive expression invites viewers to construct their own subjective narrative about the ultimate meaning of her thoughts. We collaborated on the composition, which was constructed through the use of various photos and props. I decided on a theatrical pose, capturing McKenzie’s personality as well as the underpinning emotions. The resulting photo provided a reference for the painting. Dead Weight comments on how attachment to the past or certain thoughts can hold us back in life. It contemplates the destructive nature of self-sabotage and how it may end relationships. But it also speaks to the perversely analgesic creature comforts provided by using dead attachments as a care-worn emotional crutch.’

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