
6 months ago
An award-winning double exposure oil painting inspired by Richard Laymon’s Earthquake, capturing the raw chaos of a natural disaster intertwined with the primal darkness of human nature. The central figure is a woman, her body partially silhouetted against a collapsing suburban backdrop, her face marked by fear, resolve, and something deeper—survival at any cost. Within her form, the double exposure reveals scenes of shattered streets, crumbling buildings, and desperate human encounters. Tension coils through the imagery: shadowy figures moving in the rubble, a bloodstained hand reaching from beneath cracked pavement, and the flicker of fire against a fractured skyline. Elements of violence, vulnerability, and escape unfold within the chaos. The outer scene is a dust-choked twilight—sepia and ash, cut by veins of red and orange—while the interior imagery blazes with sharp contrasts: soft skin against jagged debris, silent tears beside echoing screams. Cracks run through both the landscape and the figure, suggesting that the earthquake did more than rupture the earth—it broke the boundaries of civility, safety, and self.