The Devil I KNow (2018) Original Oil Painting by Natalia Nord

There is an interesting story behind this painting. Initially I painted a naked girl leaning over a bar thinking of jumping off with her face hidden, with a lot of bare flesh exposed- a perfect subject for the viewer’s gaze, and I didn’t like it, as she was too beautiful. When I returned to the canvas after abandoning it for some time, I had a completely new vision in mind: I removed everything that was in the background to shift all the focus to the subject and covered that beautiful body of hers with a shapeless flat rug as a protective destruction. Narcissism is commonly considered a feminine vice and I appreciate and reconstruct woman with a mirror imagery by making my subject look directly at the viewer’s eyes with a healthy self-esteem and by taking it beyond an unambiguous traditional presentation of the female nude. Only she and I know what could be potentially excavated from that floral destruction and this makes things all more interesting. That’s where the title comes from.

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 70 x 100 x 4cm (unframed)
• Ready to hang
• Signed on the back
• Style: Unspecified
• Subject: People and portraits