This work comes from a series of paintings named after Meatloaf songs that explore power imbalances within intimate moments between lovers, such as dependency and co-dependency and how these can...
This work comes from a series of paintings named after Meatloaf songs that explore power imbalances within intimate moments between lovers, such as dependency and co-dependency and how these can blur identity. Shades of pinkish red and orange create a strong passionate embrace where noses and lips merge through sucking, biting and blurring. In contrast to the others in the series there is less of an imbalance between the two figures.
Woven through Tomlinson's paintings are layers of meaning and cultural and art historical references. Her paintings put the physicality of paint and surface in service to her message about the power structures within relationships, so they invite and encourage multiple readings acknowledging the nuance in the discussions she initiates. As a viewer we flit between enjoyment, reassured by their nostalgic familiarity, bathing in their warm glow, and feeling disquieted by an undercurrent of darkness that flows through them.
This work is oil and oil bar on panel. The artist has etched into the panel with the bottom of a paint brush to detach the couple from each other, creating a soft curvy line between their faces that gently prises apart the two identities. Just by the lips there is a break in the line - this is where they touch to merge as one.